Ed, Edd 'n Eddy: the Meister Within
by PRIVATE Corp
Summary: A demonic being vent on taking over the world, a dangerous man seeking to kill, and a school is training the three Eds to prevent the world's destruction. The Eds dive into a whole new world of trouble as they wield each other to fight off new threats and take on their strongest opponents yet. The third and final part in the main story of the Ed, Edd n Eddy Project. Updating soon.
1. Act I, Chapter 01

Hello everyone once again. This here is Cory of PRIVATE Corp with the final story to this trilogy known as the _Ed, Edd n Eddy Project_ and now this is the moment I have been waiting for… it's time to bring all of the nonsense that has been going on in the past two stories and wrap them up in a pretty bow. But it's not going to be easy in this story.

Now then, to give a good explanation, this here is actually a THREE-WAY crossover with the Ed boys as the stars, the _Soul Eater_ world as my playground, and one particular series that is going to interlock together to form a back-story. Plus I got a ton of original content and guest characters coming from other genres… and like I said: this is all going to take place on Earth, not in space. So this is going to add a little more variety to what I'm working on.

Also note that this story has some heavy original content, especially when it comes to students attending the Academy, so if you are familiar with the _Soul Eater_ series and want to have your character to be part in this story, please contact me through a message and not in a review. And speaking of original content: _**this story contains an original character/canon character relationship. If you are offended by this pairing, please either refrain from flaming or leave the story alone**_. That will be your only warning.

And so, we will begin a new story with an original take to this idea, and we will begin the end to the _Project_. So let's begin!

Legal Stuff: **I DO NOT own **_**Ed, Edd n Eddy**_** or **_**Soul Eater**_**. The Ed boys are copyrighted by the great Danny Antonucci and the team at AKA Studios, and the world and characters of **_**Soul Eater**_** is copyrighted by Atsushi Okubo. All original characters and other characters guest-starring belong to their original creators, and every other original content belongs to me.**

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><p>Chapter One – The Ed Boys Rise Again!<em><br>There a Weapon's Soul inside of Ed?_

OOO

A lone cricket slowly chirps on in the dead of night, its sad song echoing off the hallow walls of sleeping buildings. Mixed in with this song is an unusual heavy stream of a low laughter, sounding very close to a snickering wheeze, as the two sounds fill up the nighttime air of a mid-sized town. The hour is late into the night and there is not a single brave soul to wander the barren streets, including the creatures of the night and the lone patrolman that is supposed to be protecting these streets. This leaves only a very peaceful atmosphere over the town, blanketing over the people and animals, telling each and everyone to sleep peacefully away and not worry about the outside world.

Despite all of this however, there is one set of noise echoing all around being loud enough to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere.

Rudely calling out into the night, a pair of girlfriends drunkenly stumbles down the sidewalk, their movements varying as the two women laugh merrily and loudly over whatever they are talking about. Both women reek with the scent of strong alcohol and the two of them are dressed very poorly, despite the two women wearing fine clothing. Their hair have been ruffled up, the straps to their dresses are loosely hanging off their shoulders, their shoes are barely on their feet, and the women are swaying all over the sidewalk, all in an attempt to get to one of the women's home.

With the alcohol controlling their every move, the two women keep a smile on their faces as they began to recall the events prior to getting the alcohol in their systems. "Oh man, did you see what Delilah did back there?" the first woman, a brunette, asked in her slurred voice. "I thought she was really serious about doing all of that to Bobby."

"Oh, you mean where she was going to pour her drink down his pants, all in an attempt to change out and…" the second woman, a redhead, commented before bursting into a spontaneous giggle.

"Yeah, that little skit, and it almost work too. If she wasn't so drunk off her ass and a lot quieter…"

"She would have that flamboy in her grasp, but he woke up too soon and started eating right at her!" the redhead snorted, pressing the near empty bottle of liquor to her lips to take a swing. "Ah, that'll probably be his only time seeing the real thing right in his face!"

"That lucky son-of-a-bitch," the brunette mumbled, pulling up her bottle to view the amount of liquid inside, only to find a few intoxicating drops left. "If I were in Delilah's shoes, I'll do anything to let that man get a peek at me."

"So those aren't your shoes, then?" the redhead asked.

The brunette takes one good drunk look down at the shoes that are loosely gripping onto her feet and she flashes a sly smile on her face. "I can't remember if these are mine or hers," she answered. "If these are hers then there's nothing she can do to get them back from me…"

Following this statement, the woman takes her near empty bottle and drinks the last few drops, all before tossing the bottle over her shoulder and allows the glass to shatter into many various fragments. "And you know what? Delilah can screw herself if she thinks she can get a man through drinking," she started. "I don't need any of that to get the mood. If you just put me in front of any man you can get and set up an audience, and I'll put on a show you've never seen before."

"And before you know it, you'll be getting this week's paycheck if you really go with that," the redhead retorted, before the women howl in a drunken laughter. As they are walking, they approach an abandoned alleyway with no visible or audible signs of wildlife or people roaming around its dark corridors. The redhead checks her bottle to see if there is anything left to drink, only to come up empty, and the woman begins to feel a tingling sensation right between her legs. "Hey, I need to go take a leek," she commented. "Do you mind keeping an eye out for any perverts or other freaks?"

"Uh, I don't think that's such a good idea," the brunette replied, sounding serious despite the alcohol controlling her. "Haven't you heard the news about some serial killer roaming around in this area and killing off every woman he can find?"

"Now where you're getting that bull-crap from? Have you been spending all-nighters again watching those thrillers? You know what those movies do to you… and now you're going to have to spend the night at my place again."

"No, I'm being serious about this! I heard on the news that there's this man that's in this area and he's killing everyone he sees, mostly women! We need to get inside before that man finds us out here!"

"Would you just relax? There's no one out on these streets and if they were, no stupid man is going to touch us. As long as the two of us stick together, we'll be back at my place before this serial killer finds us."

"Are you sure?"

"I swear on it, drunk or not," the redhead replied, raising a hand. "Now then, be a good little girl and guard the entrance while I go take care of business."

Knowing that they are safe for the moment, the brunette puts on a sly smile and her friend leans over to give her a kiss before heading into the alley. The first woman starts to walk back and forth between the entrance of the alley, behaving like a drunken guard, and the redhead heads down far enough to be in the shadows and out of eyesight. With only the moonlight helping her to see, the woman slides her hands into her skirt to remove her underwear, and lowers them enough to where she needs them to do her business. Noticing a dumpster nearby hidden partially in the shadows, the redhead takes her empty bottle and positions it under her, planning on using that for her toilet and then tossing the bottle into the dumpster.

With everything in place, the woman squats down and starts to go, but she cannot feel anything coming out. Just as she begins to wonder why she could not go, one short, sharp bang rings out from the entrance, and the redhead looks towards the entrance to notice her friend stumbling towards her. There is another bang, clearly the sound of a gunshot, and the brunette grasps onto her shoulder as she tries to reach her friend. However, she did not get too far, as the poor woman collapses to the ground, bleeding from her shoulder and stomach. The redhead tries to head over to her fallen friend, but a hulking shadow slowly walks into the alleyway.

The redhead is now stricken with fear as she gazes upon a large man hiding among the shadows. With some moonlight to give her an accurate identity, she can see that the man is well-built, possibly strong enough to crush her small figure, what appears to be a torn jacket, and a shiny barrel of a rifle sticking out of his right arm. The man has the rifle resting on his shoulder before lowering the barrel to show the gun is really a part of his arm, and he aims the long barrel right at the brunette to make her shriek in horror. The shadowy man smiles crudely as he pulls the trigger from within him and fires only one shot into the brunette, penetrating her back and hitting her heart to stop her cold and leave the body as a bleeding puppet.

The redhead lets out a yelp as she watches her friend been shot right before her eyes, and then from the corpse a blue glowing sphere with a flaming tail slowly rises up to go to the heavens. A pointed tongue slivers out from a razor mouth as the man folds his gun back into his arm and latches his palm onto the glowing sphere. The man pulls the sphere to his face and lets out a chuckle as he takes his sharp tongue to lick his dry lips. "Finally, a fresh meal in weeks," he rasped, taking the sphere into his mouth and swallowing it whole. The flame-like tail whips around a little bit before the man sucks the tail in and starts chewing the sphere, taking the time to grind the strange meal down and then swallowing every last bit. Once his mouth is free… "Just where do you think you're going, missy?"

The remaining woman stops cold in her tracks, only reaching a quarter of the way to the other end of the alley, and she stiffens up when the man spoke. The man has a cold tone to his voice, sending a large chill throughout her body as she slowly twists her body around to confront the killer. She expects to see some of the man's eccentric killing face, but once getting a good look she notices that he is rather calm about the situation. While staring into the killer's eyes, an idea pops into her head and she reaches down to grab her bottle, intending on using it as a weapon. Putting a tight grip on the neck, the redhead charges forward with her panties around her ankles, and she raises her weapon high above her head to swing.

With one good swing, the bottle hits the man in the chest and the woman is pleased to know she cut him. However, the man is unfazed by all of this and he looks down to notice shards of glass sticking out of his chest and some glistening drops of blood dripping out of his wound. Letting out a chuckle, he backhands the woman and starts removing the shards from his wound, not caring how sharp the shards are. "Really now, you really believe an empty bottle was going to stop me?" he questioned. "If want to go for broke, you could have it full and then you could have some real damage."

The redhead can feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins and she quickly starts thinking of a plan that will help her get away from this killer, but she is still under the influence of the intoxicating alcohol. Her mind is wandering and cloudy, her body is slowly swaying and she is getting the urge to use the restroom once again. Her only option is to make it either around the man or head to the other end of the alley, but that will allow the killer ample time to gun her down. Realizing her current situation, the redhead begins to feel hopeless as she cannot find a means to escape.

"Well now missy, it's about time that I put an end to your misery and eat your soul," said the killer, taking out the rifle that shot down the brunette. "As long you don't put up much a struggle, we can be done with this and I'll get another bite to eat."

"Y-You… Y-You can't get away with t-this!" the redhead drunkenly blurted.

"Heh, do you really believe that? Tell me miss, do you hear the sounds of sirens in the distance or the hasty footsteps of those of the Academy getting close? I don't hear anything myself and I got some of the best hearing in the business. If there were something heading right towards us, then I wouldn't be here with a streak of murders but I found myself in a sleepy town with a sleazy drunk in a dark alley. I've been going at this for a long time now, killing every person that I come across to reach 100 souls, and you're only one more stone in my path that I need to step before I reach that last soul!"

"Why souls? Why do you need to eat my soul?" the woman proclaimed. "I don't even have a tasty soul!"

"It's not the taste I like…" With the sound of clicking, the killer aims the barrel right at the redhead's heart and loads a barrel into the hidden chamber. "… It's the texture."

In a blink of an eye, everything around the redhead freezes up when bullet left the chamber. The sharp, deafening bang has been reduced to an inaudible huff, a chill is taking over the woman's body and there is a warm liquid running down her legs. Everything around the woman is happening all so fast, as her body collapses to the ground and rests right next to her still friend, while bleeding from the bullet wound in her chest. Similar to the brunette, a blue sphere with a tail levitates up from the fallen body, and the man collapses his gun back into his arm as he grabs the so-call "soul" from the air.

"One way or another, I got myself another fine soul to feed my appetite," the man said out loud, putting the sphere into his mouth and starts chewing. While eating the sphere, the killer takes a look at the two bodies and decides on leaving them in their current state, as moving the bodies will get his hands dirty and running into the police will result an end to his feast. He swallows his meal and heads out of the alleyway to rejoin the sleeping world again. The killer pans his head up to view the moon, grinning a wide smile similar to the crescent moon, as the man pulls out a map from his jacket's pocket and unfolds it to get a good look of the area.

"All right, the closest town to this sleepy joint is Peach Creek Estates," he muttered, tracing his finger along the shortest. "Hopefully there's some excitement waiting for me there. If those Academy students are supposedly following me, I'm going to need that if I were to take on a witch."

The man folds his map back up and sticks it back into his pocket, and he turns to the direction he is going to take to head for his next destination. Before he can take off, he bumps into an unknown person and the man quickly recognizes the person to be a teenage boy, follow by noticing a woman with black hair standing behind the boy. The man quickly apologizes for running into the duo, but the boy shrugs the killer off as the woman apologizes for the teen.

"Uh, excuse us sir but what exactly are you doing up at this hour?" the woman asked kindly. "Shouldn't you be sleeping like everyone else?"

The killer takes a good look at the duo's clothing and recognizes them from the Academy he mentioned. "I'm just talking a nightly stroll," he lied, sounding very casual with his response. "I like the nighttime air and I really prefer to walk in silence instead of the usual hustle and bustle during the day. Plus I usually work later in the day so I don't have to worry about waking up early in the morning."

"Oh really?" questioned the boy suspiciously. "Now, we heard some gunshots within this area and here you are taking a stroll. Did you happen to see the shooter or what happened during the shooting?"

"I'm sorry but I didn't see or hear a thing. The shooter may be making his escape as we speak and the victims are still in the alleyway. All I can say to you two is you should go home and call the police. They should know what to do about this and they can handle this kind of situation."

"Thank you for the suggestion," said the woman, "but we're capable of handling the situation ourselves. We'll keep an eye out for the suspect and hopefully bring him into justice."

The killer nods to this and walks pass the duo to make his leave from this town and onto the town named Peach Creek. The killer takes one last look at the moon and he grins widely, knowing that he fooled two of the Academy's finest students and is continuing on with his streak. To this man, he only needs four more souls, one being a witch, and then will be an unstoppable force. Of course, he will run into those students once again and he plans on acquiring their souls, along with one soul from Peach Creek, then he can go search for a witch and challenge her so he can get her soul.

As the man is heading towards the town's limits, the duo continues to watch the man get farther away from them. "That man smells fishy," said the boy. "You think that he's the target we're seeking?"

"Sure looks the way," the woman replied. "He recognized us but didn't acknowledge that up front. He must be onto us when we ran into him. Surely Lord Death would be please if we retrieve his soul before he goes Kishin."

"Indeed," the boy replied, sticking an arm out to grab onto an unknown object.

In a bright light, the woman disappears from view and the boy grabs onto the handle of a weapon. Placing the weapon onto his belt, the boy tails the killer to follow him to his next destination, all while staying out of his sight. High up in the starry skies, a streak of red light spans across the world as the moon watches over the sleepy town below, unblinking and adding on to the nighttime noise.

OOO

"_As of last night, two women from Maple Falls have become the latest victims in a stream of serial killings happening lately. An officer patrolling the area found the bodies lying in an alleyway and found bullet wounds similar to the other victims in the killings. The connections are unknown, other than these two women are part of the killer's, identity still unknown, growing list which has been mostly women. It is believed that the killer is heading west en route for…_"

One loud click from the remote and the television changes from the current news channel, going away from the local news to a monster movie. However, the person sitting the closest to the television does not possess the remote, instead the device is in the hands of an irritated boy, clearly annoyed from watching the news and is now relieved since the images playing is a movie. The remote is taken from him by another boy, only slightly older, and he changes the channels back to see if he can catch the end of the news report.

"Oh come on Double D! I'd only changed the channel because it was getting boring!" snapped the irritated boy, grabbing the remote and changing it back to the movie.

"Eddy please, there's a reason I had it on the news in the first place, and that's because of the report of the serial killings happening," the other boy replied. "That man, whoever that killer supposes to be, is within our area is could be heading to the cul-de-sac as we speak!"

"Nah, there's no way that's going to happen. What're the odds of that guy showing up here in the cul-de-sac? It's not like he's going to walk up to one of our houses, say 'Hello, I'm here to kill you,' and then shoot us point blank."

"Well that maybe true about what you said, but those odds are still there. I'm as worry about this as everyone else in the cul-de-sac and in town, plus it's also good to know if we need to be on guard or not."

"But isn't a few good miles, about two or three hours, from Maple Falls by car?" asked the first boy. "It's probably going to take the guy a long time if he's traveling here by foot."

"I dunno about that Eddy," answered the boy sitting in the chair to the television. "From what I heard about the killer, the man always walks from city to city, killing every person he meets and he takes their souls and eats them for dinner to make him stronger!"

A strange, awkward and familiar silence lingers in the basement's atmosphere, waiting in the air for only a few seconds before getting burst by one of the boys. "Ed, you really need to find a new hobby," said the second boy.

Down below in the basement of one of the boys' homes, there sit three friends that known each other for a very long time. The boy living in this resident is the owner of this basement, and he has a very strange interest in the bizarre and unusual, and collects just about everything relating to monsters and science fiction. He is a tall boy for his age, only a few inches taller than his friends, and he wears a blue jacket with long coattails, white racing stripes on his sleeves, and has a unique style of collar up. He is also wearing a black futuristic undershirt with neon blue lines going in every direction, dark brown baggy jeans, and black running shoes. The boy sports a goofy smile on his face, bright brown eyes and orange hand that needs to see some professional help.

The other boys are guests to this house, with the boy first to speak is the younger one of the trio, and he is the supposed "leader" of the group. The young boy is rather a greedy person in nature, along with possessing a dark history, but the past two years have been nice on him and gave the three boys some break time from all the insanity they experienced. The boy has a green shirt with two light green stripes going down the left side and a dollar sign on his right, white sleeves covering his arms, purple jeans, black shoes, and a silver watch hidden under his left sleeve. The greedy boy has slick black hair with three spikes, chilling blue eyes and a mind scheming up a plan to earn the boy money and keeping the remote.

And the third boy is the middle one of the trio, who he considers himself to be the smarter one and also the more grounded of the three. This boy is wearing a sock-like hat on top of his head, concealing whatever mystery lurks under the hat and to this day eludes only a few people. Along with his black hat, the boy is wearing a school attire-like outfit of a red vest over a beige dress shirt, navy blue suit pants, brown leather shoes, a single brown glove sticking out of a pocket, and sparking emerald eyes round out the boy's appearance.

With the three boys accounted for, the greedy boy loses his patience and starts blurting out what is been on both his and the smart boy's minds. "All right Ed, this is getting boring! Unless something happens in the next few seconds, I'm blowing this pop stand!"

"Please Eddy, don't go!" pleaded the tall boy. "Did you forget about my exciting thing that I told you about? I really was going to show you guys what I can do!"

"Well, we have been waiting here for about three hours now and you have yet to show us this 'amazing' thing you wanted to show us," said the smart boy.

"It's true Ed," said the greedy boy. "All we've been doing the past few hours is done nothing but watch boring news and little TV. We want to see what this amazing thing is."

The tall boy named Ed got up from his chair and points a finger up to the ceiling, trying to come up with what he is going to say. "I forget," he answered.

The greedy boy named Eddy lets out a heavy sigh and places a hand over his eyes. "That's Ed for ya," he mumbled, "always forgetting the most important things. Well screw this, I'm outta here."

"Oh, no wait, I remember now!" Ed stated happily, snapping his fingers as well. With his index finger pointing straight up to his ceiling, the two guests pan their heads to see what is lying above them.

"Ed, I don't see how your ceiling can count as something ama…" started the smart boy known as Double D, taking a good look at the ceiling to notice some small holes dotting the white top. He and Eddy squint to see the hole in a little more detail before shifting to wide eyes as their friend is giving them his typical smile.

"Well at the very least it wasn't a new comic or action figure," Eddy noted.

"Ed, how in the world did you get bullet holes in your ceiling?" asked Double D. "I know your family isn't as violent as Eddy, sans Sarah, and I know your parents don't own any firearms. Plus we heard those gunshots two years ago and we thought you were being robbed!"

"Oh… sorry about that," Ed sheepishly apologized. "I made these holes when I discovered I can do the Spirit Gun thing and I shot out these purple bullets," he explained, getting his right hand into a gun pose.

The smart Ed tries to bring reason to the nerdy boy that it is impossible for the Ed to shoot anything from his fingers, only to notice concentrate purple energy leaving Ed's finger and hearing a small gunshot as well. The little energy ball pierces right through the ceiling and creates a new hole, allowing the supposed bullet to keep on traveling through house before breaking through the roof. The two guests look in astonishment by what the tall Ed has done, by simply having a single purple energy ball leaving his finger and behaving much like a bullet, and their amazement shifts to fear from a loud, sudden boom.

The single bullet was not the source of the boom, but rather the noise came from inside the house and the Ed boys are very familiar with this particular shout. There is a long silence at the moment, giving the Eds time to get a few moments to breathe, but they are panicking knowing that what waits beyond Ed's door. Knowing that there is impending doom heading towards the basement, the tall Ed looks towards the small window that leads to the outside world and he rushes over to the escape hatch to make his leave. Eddy decides on joining his nerdy friend, heading over to the small window to help his friend get out before leaving himself, leaving only the smart Ed. Double D also decides on leaving through the window, but the door flies open and a little girl storms into the room with fury boiling.

"ED! Ed? Where are you, Ed?" the girl shouted, searching every little crack inside of the basement. She scans underneath each piece of furniture, in the closet, walls and bathroom, all in the search for the tall Ed. Once she is done searching, she turns her attention to the remaining Ed to see if she can get some answers. "Double D, where did my idiot brother run off to?" she asked in a calmer tone.

The scared Ed, shaking all over in fear of the little girl's wrath, tries to come up with a cover story, but words are failing him and there is a nicking feeling in his head, telling him not to lie. Standing before the Ed is an intimidating girl despite her age, and while standing in front of the Ed she appears to be calmer. She has the same hair and eye colors as Ed, due to them being siblings, but her personality seems to shift whenever her brother does something stupid or insane. She has grown over the years, with her getting taller and wearing a different style of clothing, with a light-yellow, spaghetti-strap tank top, green ankle pants and pink shoes.

Oddly enough, Double D is losing his nervousness and is feeling more comfortable knowing that he should not be afraid of this girl. Plus he remember he once had feelings for her some time ago and can feel at ease talking to her without worrying about the tension between her and the Ed boys. "Double D, are you all right?" the girl asked, sounding worried.

"Oh, um… yes, I'm fine Sarah," the boy replied.

"Great! Now then, do you know what where did my brother run off to?"

"Ed… uh, really I have no idea where he could have ran off to, but all I know is he's outside somewhere Sarah. He left through the window just before you got down the stairs, so he couldn't have gone that far from your house."

"Right…" the girl named Sarah stressed. "Well, if you do see him, tell him to get his fat behind back here so he can help me fix the hole he made."

"All right, I'll let him know that." The smart Ed politely allows the little girl to leave the room, but he stops her so he can add on to his conversation. "Say Sarah, how long did you know about Ed's 'ability?'"

"Ever since everyone in the cul-de-sac heard those gunshots two years ago and ran over here like idiots to see we were getting robbed," explained Sarah. "He was rather excited that he discovered this ability to shoot out of his finger that he went overboard and turn both his roof and my floor into Swiss cheese! I yelled at him of course, threatening to tell our mom that he shot a gun in the house and ruined my room, and like always he pleaded not tell any of our parents and that we can fix the mess before anyone noticed. So we did everything we could to fix the holes and me and Ed never told anyone about what he can do, although I do have to get him to follow some of my rules to prevent me from squealing."

"Huh, I would never suspect Ed is capable of doing something like that," said Double D. "I mean being able to shoot something from his fingers. So, for all this time, your parents don't know a thing about Ed's ability?"

"We made sure not to let anyone know about what Ed can do and we promised not to tell them, and of course Ed did everything that I ask him to for a few weeks. They even didn't notice the repairs that we made and Ed is happy that he can go on living."

"That's interesting. In all of my time knowing Eddy and Ed, I have never once seen Ed shoot anything like a burst of purple energy from his fingers. There must be a reason as to why he is able to do something like that."

"Yeah, I'd like to know the exact thing! I'd to put up with him all of this time through all of his stupid stuff, and never once did I see that until two years ago. He must have gotten that when you guys were off on your adventures."

"Well, I'm not certain if Ed got that during when we were fighting in that tournament and it could be when we acquire that magic notebook or when he became a wizard," explained Double D. "Still, he never did anything of the sort when we had the notebook and when he was a wizard, but I guess I should ask him about…"

Before the Ed can finish his sentence, a strong, rupturing pulse bangs away at the boy's mind hard, and he grasps onto his temple as he staggers from the pain. Sarah rushes over and starts asking him about his current state, and Double D only replies in moans. The little girl grabs onto the smart boy and starts leading him out of the basement, taking him up to ground level and into the kitchen. Sarah grabs a seat from the table and rests Double D down in the chair, leaving him to rest his sore head on the cold tabletop as the girl heads over to the sink to get a towel and cold water. She returns with the towel soak and she presses her hand against Double D's forehead to feel it burning, and Sarah presents the towel to the Ed which he then takes from her to place it on his head.

"… Thank you Sarah," the Ed weakly replied.

"It's the least I can do," the girl replied, looking worried. "Are you sure you're all right? It feels like you have a bad fever."

"I don't why I have that, but as far as I know this is just a bad headache and this is a bad one at that. I knew I should have brought along some medicine with me to deal with this…"

"Does this mean you've been getting a lot of headaches?"

"Only the past few weeks, but those were minor cases. They were never really this extreme like this one, and I never experienced any fever-like conditions."

"Well, I could go grab some medicine for you but I don't want you to get any more sick from the stuff we have," said Sarah. "What I can say for now is to go home and lie down in bed, along with telling your parents about what you're experience."

"That sounds like good advice. I guess you did learn something when you were playing doctor that one time," said Double D, getting up from the chair while keeping his hand on the wet towel. "At least I do have some medication that will help treat these kinds of headaches, but I don't think I can make it to my house."

"Do you need help getting home?" offered the girl. "If you want, I'm willing to help you across the cul-de-sac to your home."

"Thank you Sarah, but I think I can make it on my own. If I collapse in the middle of the street, then go find someone and help me into my home, and if I appear to get worse call 911."

With a nod from Ed's sister, she escorts the sick Ed to the front door and opens it up for him so he can venture outside. Once out in the open, the bright sunlight of the midday takes him by surprise, slightly blinding him as he adjusts his eyes to the light and also trying to tune out the pain in his head. The medium Ed takes his first step away from the doorway and onto the front yard, where he can barely see the other residents of the cul-de-sac. From what he is gathering, there are other children out and about, doing miscellaneous tasks to get out of the way or to entertain themselves. Hardly has anything changed in the past two years, with the exception of three particular events, but those were strange occurrences and they all happened in the mail. Everyone is out having fun and enjoying their time, knowing that their summer vacation is coming to an end.

Spying his house in the distance, Double D begins to struggling journey from his friend's house, across the cul-de-sac and to his home, all to obtain some medicine and alone time in his bedroom. His walking feels like he is spending an eternity walking in a desert, with the cul-de-sac stretching on and on for miles and the sun beating down its blistering rays like in the dry oceans of sand. The smart boy sways and tumbles his way across the pavement, feeling nauseous in the stomach and the beating in his head getting stronger, and strangely his vision starts to fail. Double D remembers feeling this splitting headache before, but never at a level such as this and this particular headache is now making him start to hallucinate.

The world around him slowly melts away, with the homes leaving only their burnt skeletons, trees their decaying stumps and the pavement cracked and dried. Every form of life that surrounds the Ed begin to slowly die as he suddenly feels warmer and notices the licks of fires burning in the distance. All that remains of the cul-de-sac is nothing but ruins, decay and death and the Ed is the sole survivor of this holocaust, except for one other person. Standing a few feet away is a man the boy remembers only faintly, remembering only a few details about this man but he knows this is not someone he should be messing with, and the man slowly turns around to send a chilling stare right at the Ed boy.

The vision soon breaks as he touches onto the warm metal of a doorknob. All life rushes back into his view and the Ed quickly turns around to see the world is back to its peaceful self. Letting out a sigh of relief, Double D twists the knob and heads inside his home only to find the place empty. The boy can feel sweat dripping down his face, either from the pain of his headache or from nervousness of his vision, and his stomach grows even more nauseous as the smart Ed heads towards the kitchen in search for his parents.

"Mother? Father? I've returned home and I am need of some medication!" the boy shouted, his words echoing off of the empty walls.

There are no signs of his parents anywhere in the house, meaning that they have left to do chores and also leaving the Ed an entire room full of sticky notes to read. He spies a very familiar shape and color posted on the refrigerator and he peels the sticky note off of the metal door. He reads off the door out loud, learning that he parents are gathering food and supplies, along with some medicine for his recent headaches that are only miles away, and the Ed has received a letter in the mail. Putting the note back on the door, Double D turns his attention to the table to find a stack of mail, with various bills, junk mail and letters from others, he picks out the one with his name addressed and starts investigating the envelope.

Strangely, this particular letter he acquired is an acceptance letter to a school he has never heard of. He checks over his memory to see if he send out any applications to schools across the country, but he does not remember sending something to this school. With the pain blocking some of his thoughts, he recalls never getting an application and filling it out to send it to the school yet here is a letter from the very place. The Ed is wondering if the school is a university or a regular college, but he is a bit young to attend college, plus he has the urge to throw the letter out in the garbage. However, there is that part of him that wants to know more about the acceptance letter, so he opens the envelope and pulls out its content to notice that the letter is written in a foreign language.

Double D is not in the mood for translating, thanks to the headache and fever, so he heads over to where the medicine is and takes out a few pills to ingest, getting the right amount to take to help ease the pain. Once swallowing the medicine, he takes the letter and starts making his way upstairs to go get some rest. The Ed opens the door to his room and he rests the letter down on his desk, all before walking over to his bed and collapsing onto his blanket. His eyes begin to close, feeling the medicine kicking in and the beating in his head slowly dwindling away. All he can do now is get a good rest and wait for the pain to go away, so he can focus on translating the letter and find out why he got an acceptance letter in the first place.

OOO

Back at Ed's house, the other two cowering Ed boys emerge from their hiding places to see if the wrath of Sarah has pass. They watch the house for a few minutes before assuring themselves that Sarah is not coming outside to look for the duo, and both Eddy and Ed step out from their covers to listen for the sounds of an angry little girl. Both boys let out a sigh of relief, hearing that Sarah has left them alone, and the small boy heads over to his tall friend to start extracting information from him about his shooting ability.

"So Ed, I was wondering on how exactly you acquired this ability to shoot bullets out of your finger?" the greedy boy asked.

Ed presses a finger to his lips and begins to concentrate how he got the powers in the first place, thinking really hard as he focuses strongly on the past. "I can't remember a darn thing Eddy. I sorta just raised my hand above my head like so and just fire like a normal gun, like I did some time ago. That's really what I can remember on how I got it…"

"Really Ed, that's all you can remember? You just raised your hand to the sky and just imagine pulling the trigger like a normal gun? Come on Ed, there's no way anyone can do that just at random. You must have gotten it when you were a wizard or when we were inside that computer."

"We were inside of a computer?" the tall Ed echoed slightly.

"Yeah Ed, we got that some puppets to work with us and… never mind, I don't think we got any magic stuff during that time." At that moment, an idea pops into Eddy's head and he puts a smile on his face. "Say Ed, why don't you practice your skills by setting up a shooting range, just to see how accurate you are?"

"But Sarah won't allow me to use my…"

"Screw Sarah, we don't need her option about this. This is just between us and maybe Double D if he shows up. As long as we keep the noise down, Sarah won't know a thing and we could have a massacre on our hands… in a good way Ed, not what you're thinking."

Disappointing Ed slightly, he quickly shifts his frown into a smile as the two Eds break away from the backyard and starts searching around the cul-de-sac for junk. They search through garbage for empty cans and bottles, grabbing these so they have their targets, and Eddy spies an abandoned table that is calling out to them. Telling Ed to head for the Junkyard, the two boys grab the table and made their way back to Ed's house to get the shooting range all set up and ready to go. Getting the cans and bottles set up and align, the personal shooting gallery is open and Eddy takes cover under the table, along with a box full of replaceable targets.

Extending his right arm out, Ed takes aim at the first row's targets by starting at the end and he starts imagining loading several bullets into his arm. Pulling the trigger, Ed unleashes his bullet hell onto the cans and bottles, blasting the aluminum cans far off the table and shattering the glass bottles into pieces. Eddy quickly restocks the rows from underneath the table, keeping his hand out of Ed's view to prevent getting shot at, and he watches the cans go flying off the table as Ed unloads his hand. Eddy is astonish that his friend is firing like a sub-machine gun and the small boy reaches down into the box to feel that he is out of targets. He signals Ed to stop his firing and Eddy slides out from under the table, carefully not hitting any glass shards, and he surveys the surrounding area to notice the carnage Ed left.

"Damn Ed, you have really left yourself go back there," the greedy Ed whistled, watching his footsteps. "Have you ever thought of showcasing your hand off and possibly make money off what you can do?"

"But Sarah told me that I can't go blabbing about what I can do or she'll tell Mom and I'll get into big trouble…" said Ed before realizing what he has just said. "Sarah is going to kill me! We need to clean this place up before she finds us!"

There is a low, but loud on the inside, cry of anger coming from within the house and the Eds start to panic as to what to do next. They take a good look at the backyard and they start cleaning up everything they can see, even going through the grass to pick up the smallest of glass shards. Once done, Eddy dives into some bushes and watches his friend struggle to find a hiding place, as he notices his sister getting closer. With his brain going into overdrive, the tall Ed suddenly starts to glow very brightly and he disappears from view, leaving Eddy confused as Sarah opens the back doors and screaming at the top of her lungs.

"ED! I heard you shooting back here again!" she growled, searching all over the backyard for her dumb brother. "If you don't come out here this instance, I'm going to call the cops to put you away for shooting at me randomly!"

The girl begins to walk out onto the grass and she bangs her toes against something metallic and sharp. Her eyes pan down to the ground and notices that there is a large sword right at her feet. The sword is a rather strange claymore, with its tip broken off and a line dividing right the broad spine of the sword, making the cutting edges look small. The blade itself is an unusual shade of light yellow and the handle has a dark green based wrapped with a green cloth. The hilt appears to be a generic hilt like any other sword, and it is also dark green as well. And attached to the handle is a tassel made out of red and white stripes alternating between the two, similar to Ed's old shirt. All together the sword resembles Ed two years ago and Sarah quickly figures that this sword belongs to hi,

"Ed, wherever you're hiding at, come out here and grab your stupid sword!" ordered Sarah, reaching down to grab onto the sword. She tries to lift the claymore up but strangely she is not able to pick the weapon off the ground. "Come on Ed… come get your sword… and get inside so you can… fix the holes you made today!"

"_Uh… believe it or not, Ed's not home at the moment_," the sword began to sing worriedly. "_Ed's never thought he is so free, getting away on wings of a prayer. Who could it be? Believe it or not, Ed's not at home_."

After hearing that strange message, Sarah immediately loosen her grip on the sword and quickly backs away from the cursed item before recognizing the voice and speech pattern to her brother. Once she starts to see the sword as Ed, Eddy jumps out from his hiding place and walks over to check out the situation is with the girl and the claymore. "Ed, are you in the sword?" the girl asked.

"… _Excalibur_?" answered Ed randomly.

"Oh yeah, that's Ed all right," said Eddy, sounding not so pleased that his friend is in a sword. "Ed, how exactly did you manage to get inside of the sword?"

"_It's so dark in here guys_," the claymore replied. "_It all happened so fast, like it is was in a blur, plus it was when Sarah was getting close to the door when I got stuck in here. Plus I'm naked in here as well_."

"That's not something I should be hearing Ed," his sister answered, with Eddy faking that he is throwing up. "… So you have any bright ideas on how you can turn yourself back into your dumb self?"

"_I don't know! I've never tried turning into this before_!"

"So, if you're really stuck in this form, then how much do you think you can go for if I were to sell you?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on there, squirt!" stated Eddy. "If there's going to be any selling, it's going to be me. I want to get myself rich off of Ed's current form, so stand aside shrimp so I can get Ed outta… YEOWCH!"

When the greedy boy pressed his hands against the handle of the claymore, there is a slight burning sensation of the cold variety eating away at hands. Eddy immediately pulls his hands away from the claymore and shakes them violently to get rid of the pain running through his burnt hands. Letting out yelps of pains and strings of curses that Sarah is too young to hear, a bright light engulfs the claymore and a fully clothed Ed sat upright to see his friend struggling with his hands. "Dammit Ed, what the hell were you doing!" the greedy Ed cursed. "Are you trying to burn my frigging hands off?"

"It wasn't me Eddy, honest and for truly!" the tall Ed pleaded, begging before his friend. "I've never wanted to do harm to you or to Sarah!"

"Well you just gave me freaking freezer burns on my palms when I tried to grab, you dumbass! Sweet God, this freaking hurts like hell!"

"Hey, don't you use that kind of language in front of me," Sarah snapped. "Besides, it is your fault that you picked Ed up in the first place!"

"That's coming from the girl who couldn't even pick up her own brother in his sword form!" Eddy protested. "Seriously, you have done things that Ed has done in the past like ripping through houses and uproot trees, but you can't pick up Ed as a sword?"

"Uh Eddy, maybe you should wear gloves when you wield me," Ed offered kindly. "Double D has that one glove, so maybe you can ask…"

"Stay out of this Ed!" barked both Eddy and Sarah at once, leaving Ed to give them a stink look.

"Hey, wait a minute… I got myself an idea!" the greedy boy stated proudly. "OK Ed, how about we go get the others and have them try to pick you up to see which one of them can wield you without any painful after-effects?"

"Why are you telling this to me?" asked Sarah. "I've already try to pick up Ed and I don't want to be part of another of your stupid scams."

"Whoever said it was a scam?" And with that, the greedy Ed made his way out of the backyard while grabbing onto Ed's collar to drag the brother away from his sister.

Out in the cul-de-sac, the two Ed boys split to their separate ways to go gather supplies for Eddy's next big plan. Eddy runs into someone's garage to grab himself a paint can and an used curtain before heading out, along with some pieces of wood, while Ed is searching through the nearly completed construction site for any extra pieces of lumber and a large boulder. With supplies in hand, the boys meet up in front of Ed's house and the duo quickly began to work on the project, building a crude stage out of the wood and some nails they gathered. Within an hour, the two are finished and Eddy orders Ed to get behind the curtain and transform into his claymore form as the greedy Ed finds a traffic cone and uses that as a megaphone.

"Attention boys and girls of the cul-de-sac!" the greedy boy stated loudly. "We the Eds are issuing a challenge to all who want to win a great price! Step right up and take a crack at what we have to offer, but only one of you will be walking away the winner!"

As soon the announcement is made, several children of all shapes appear and surround the make-shift stage to see what the two Eds have in store. Eddy orders Ed to go behind the curtain and get ready for their plan, as the crowd begins to get anxious. "Hey Eddy, we all though you were giving up on your stupid scams," said one jock-looking boy.

"Ah, but this here is no mere scam, by fellow neighbors," explained Eddy. "I'm not here to take your hard-earned money and spend it on Jawbreakers; only for a moment of your time. As I already called out, this here is a challenge, in which one of you lucky fellows is going to be walking away the winner."

"So what exactly is this challenge?" asked a blonde girl.

"You'll be finding out shortly. Now, what you are going for is not cash but the title of being the only one in the cul-de-sac to wield a mighty weapon me and Ed call…"

"_The Rutabaga!_"

Once again an awkward silence falls upon the greedy Ed boy, but this time around he is not alone in this strange outcry. "So what you're saying is that we're going to be swinging around a giant vegetable?" a boy carrying a piece of two-by-four questioned.

Eddy shoots an irritated stink face out to the crowd as he pulls back on the curtain to unveil Ed's "Rutabaga" form. On the stage is a large gray boulder with the claymore sticking out of it, and the children of the cul-de-sac are in awe. Eddy begins to explain that this claymore is similar to the famed story of the Sword in the Sword (worded differently thanks to Eddy and Ed's lack of knowledge on the subject), and he explains that they have only one chance to pull Ed out from the boulder, along with giving some warnings when grasping onto the hilt.

"And what exactly do you mean by these so-call 'hazards,' green-as-grass Ed boy?" asked a foreign boy.

"Since you asked, when I tried to grab onto the sword, he gave me a bad case of freezer burn," Eddy responded, showing off his hands and disgusting the others.

"Ha, what nonsense!" proclaimed the foreign boy, jumping up onto the stage. "Rolf will show to you all that what the Ed boys have here is just some… what-cha-ma-call-it, and pull the Sword of Manhood from the Fabled Stone!"

"Go for it Rolf!" shouted the jock boy.

The first person up to take the stage is a tall, lanky foreign boy of unknown origins, appearing very skinny for his figure despite his rather carnivorous lifestyle. The boy has hardly changed over the years, with the physical exception of building some muscles under his shirt and his common striped shirt has swapped palettes. With blue hair growing on his arms, a combination goatee and a full set on top of his head, this boy is turning into a man everyday… leaving the mental aspect of him to remain true, since he remains to be truly inept to modern-day living. He reaches out and grasps onto the hilt, using his muscles to aid him in lifting Ed up, only for the foreign boy to get a massive jolt.

Everyone jumps back from the sudden surprise, keeping their fearful eyes on the tall boy named Rolf as he continues to grip onto the sword and tries to lift it from the boulder. Enduring the amount of electricity flowing through his body, Rolf pulls himself closer to the claymore and he starts to lift it up before receiving a powerful jolt. The boy's hand rips free from the hilt and the body of Rolf is sent flying above the other children, quickly leaving the cul-de-sac. The others look in horror at the foreign boy before they turn back to the stage and started protesting.

"Hey, hey, hey, that wasn't part of what we're trying to do here," Eddy proclaimed. "I'd said something that you might get some pain if you pick the sword up, but I didn't think it'll be like that. If you want proof that I'm not trying to shock you, I'll grab the sword!"

Taking a good, long look at Ed sitting in the sword, the greedy Ed lets out a sigh as he reaches out to grab the handle. With his fingers around, he stands on the stage perfectly still, struggling to keep his hand on the claymore as the burns eat away at his hand. Once set, the Ed removes his hand from the hilt and clenches his teeth as he shows off his blistering hand to everyone. "Are you serious about getting us hurt?" asked the jock, looking a little green from seeing Eddy's hands. "We're not going to go up there if you're showing off your burnt hands and also what happened to Rolf."

"OK, I need to repeat myself here… I said that you might get some pain if you try to pick up the sword, but Sarah already tried this and she didn't experience the same thing like me or Rolf. She couldn't lift the sword off of the ground, maybe due to how heavy Ed is…"

"It's true!" stated the little girl.

"All right, then allow me get a shot at this, but if anything happens to me you're going to regret messing me up." The boy that is taking the stage is a sports jock that owns many skills in the different fields of sports. He is wearing a school jersey over an orange shirt, grey jeans and black and white running shoes, along with a school cap worn backwards on top of his red hair. The jock takes one good look at the claymore, inhaling a deep breath before reaching out his hand to grab the handle. He can feel his hand shaking from the nervousness and he wraps his fingers around the green handle, all to find no shock or burning coming from the claymore.

"… See, what did I tell you, Kevin?" said Eddy. "Now go on and show the cul-de-sac the man that you are and lift the sword from the stone!"

The sports jock nods his head in response and he places his other hand on the handle and a foot on the boulder, getting himself into position to lift the claymore up. With a tight grip, he starts pulling up on the sword but the claymore is not budging at all. The boy relaxes his muscles and tries again, straining everything in his arms as he tries to free Ed from the boulder. Seconds tick by and the jock struggles to get the sword out of its prison, only for the boy to loosen his grip and fall back onto the stage.

"Experiencing that heavy weight there, Kevin?" teased the greedy boy.

"Yeah I am," the jock named Kevin replied harshly. "This sword here is freaking wedged in there, plus it's too damn heavy. How in the world are you going to get anyone to lift that thing if it's stuck in there?"

"Allow me and Plank to give it a shot," said a boy carrying around a piece of two-by-four, climbing up onto the stage to join the others.

This boy is slightly younger than the rest of the cul-de-sac by a year or so, and with him is his "closest friend" ever since. He is a rather unique individual with a large cranium, a similar size imagination and a split personality that alternates between a hero and a villain. The boy is a nature lover with him wearing a forest green sweatshirt, baggy blue jeans and a pair of old white sandals. He is slightly brown in color, similar to the shade of Rolf's tan, and he has a large forehead bearing little hair except for peach fuzz. In his hand is wooden plank with two different oval red eyes and a blue smile, giving the board a face and also somewhat of living soul.

The boy grabs onto a random stick and props the plank up on the stick, putting the board aside as he prepares himself to pull the sword free. He places both feet onto the boulder and both hands on the handle, and he lifts up on the handle to begin taking the claymore, but nothing is happening. He gives several more tries at loosening the blade from the stone, but the boy's arms turn into gelatin and he frees his grip from the handle to collapse on the stage much like Kevin. Getting help from the others, the nature boy allows his arms to dangle at his side, as he listens in to the sound emitting from the lumber and tunes in to hear what it is saying.

"What's that Plank, you want to get a chance at pulling the sword from the stone?" the nature boy asked, sounding a bit worried. "I don't know, you saw what happened to Rolf, Kevin and me. I don't know what would happen to you if you try to lift it out."

"Come on, Jonny boy, just humor us all here," said Eddy. "If Plank wants to pull the sword out and he does, then maybe I can give you a cash prize for having Plank remove Ed from the stone."

"Really Eddy?" the boy stated, perking up when hearing that he will get some money for having his piece of lumber remove the claymore. The three boys step away from the wood dubbed Plank and all of the children watch as the board stares at the large claymore. With nothing happening in ten minutes, the stick that is holding Plank up begins to shake before snapping all by itself, and the piece of lumber drops down flat. The nature boy named Jonny rushes over to help his friend off of the ground and he brushes the board off as he listens to Plank's "words."

"Plank said that lifting that sword up is nearly impossible unless we get a jackhammer or a chisel, have superhuman strength, or establish a connection with the sword's soul," the boy explained, translating the silence from the wood.

"Establish a connection with the sword's soul?" echoed Kevin. "That's crazy talk Jonny! There's no way a sword has a soul!"

"Believe me Kevin, you have no idea what this thing is capable of," the greedy boy commented, taking a good look towards Ed. "So all that remains are Nazz and Jimmy, and possibly Double D if we see him and those two lovebirds, wherever they may be."

"Then that means I'm up next dudes," said a blonde girl, jumping onto the stage.

In all of her years living in the cul-de sac, this girl has been the center of attention and the common goal to the other boys. She has attracted nearly all of the males living in the cul-de-sac, and all but one has successfully won her heart one way or another. She is a very beautiful girl, possessing luscious short blonde hair, sparkling bright eyes, a black shirt with the sleeves torn off the shoulders, a red and black-trimmed skirt, and red shoes. There are several reasons why the boys have a crush on this girl and two of those reasons are her beauty…

… And how she behaves much like the guys some times, showing off her hidden strength as she tightly grips onto the claymore and tugs on it. The blonde is showing what she is capable of, using every ounce of strength in her body, and she turns different shades of red as she struggles to remove the sword. The claymore remains firm in the boulder, not showing any signs of budging, and the hilt begins to glisten with water droplets and the girl removes her hands from the handle to notice that the sword has sweat dripping down.

"What is this?" the blonde asked, taking a closer look at her hands. "Is this my sweat or sweat from the sword?"

"_Sorry_," Ed apologized.

"Ew, that's so gross," the girl called Nazz groaned, shivering at the thought of a sword sweating, and she jumps off of the stage to head back to her home.

"OK, so all that remains is Jimmy," said Eddy. "If he doesn't get Ed out, we need to go search for Double D and those two lovers and see if they can get the sword out."

"I… I'm not sure if I can do this, Eddy," muttered a timid looking boy.

"Oh come on Jimmy, it's not that bad," said Jonny. "Kevin, Plank, Nazz and I didn't experience any sort of pain like Rolf, except for sore arms. Just give it a try by giving it a few pulls and you might be the lucky one to pull the sword out!"

"I… I g-guess I can."

The boy named Jimmy is definitely not one of the bravest boys in the cul-de-sac. He is a very frail-looking boy that bruises very easily, shown with a bandage wrapping his left elbow, and he has some braces on his teeth after a certain incident, but he is now wearing simple wires instead of a complex device. Jimmy is also wearing a white polo shirt with a sky blue sweater wrapped around his waist, khaki shorts, black leather dress shoes, and a gold watch on his left wrist. With nervous black eyes and curly blonde hair, the timid boy looks at the claymore and stares at it for some time before bulking up and stepping up to the sword.

Grasping onto the handle with both hands, Jimmy steps onto the boulder in hopes of getting some leverage into removing the claymore. He lifts up on the handle and struggles to free the blade from the rock, leaving his arms trembling from the tension he is exerting. After a few seconds, he drops down and takes a small break, panting heavily as the rest of the cul-de-sac starts to chant him on. With some enthusiasm flowing through him, the small boy tries once again at lifting the sword out, but with no success whatsoever. A few minutes in and Jimmy collapses to the ground, exhausted from using too much of his energy on the sword.

Eddy walks over to the claymore and gives it a few quick tapes, noticing that the claymore has started to come loose. "Come on Jimmy, you finally got the sword to come loose!" stated Eddy. "Get up so you can pull it out!"

"I… I can't Eddy," panted Jimmy. "My arms… they're too tired… I don't think I can… lift anything else today."

The greedy boy places a hand to his head as he gathers his thoughts about the current situation. So far most of the children, including him, have tried to lift to free Ed and only one has successfully got the sword boy to move and that person is on the ground trying to recover the energy he used. Then there is Rolf getting electrocuted and flying from the scene and Nazz collecting sweat on her hands, and then there is the Ed himself who has gotten a bad case of freezer burns on his own hands. There are only three people left that can try to lift Ed out, but Eddy does not have the slightest clue as to where these people are.

Thinking that Double D might be the only one who can lift Ed from his prison, Eddy grabs his traffic cone and raises it back to his mouth to call out to his friend. "Paging Double D, Double D!" he shouted. "We need your service out in the cul-de-sac! Repeat, we need your service out in the cul-de-sac! Paging Double D, Double D!"

"All right Eddy, I can hear you all the way from my room," groaned the called Ed, grabbing onto his head showing that he has not fully recovered from his headache. "You should really put that traffic cone away in the garbage. You don't know where that has been, plus I'm not in the best of moods right now."

"Sheesh, you're never in the mood when we need you," said Eddy. "You always have these headaches and you had to go home to go treat them. How are we supposed to get our done quicker if you keep having these headaches?"

"I'm not one hundred percent certain on what's causing these headaches and recently this fever, but I'm investigating the situation as of moments ago when you rudely woke me up."

"Well, sorry about that," Eddy rudely replied.

The smart Ed pans his eyes over to the claymore still sticking out of the boulder, getting a good look before focusing back onto Eddy. "Is there a reason why you have a Sword in the Stone set-up going on here?"

"Me and Ed are trying out to see which one of us can pull this sword out of the boulder, simply grabbing onto it and drawing it out without dealing with any pain," explained Eddy. "So far Kevin, Jimmy, Plank, Jonny and Sarah tried to lift the sword out but they couldn't lift the stupid thing, Rolf got electrocuted from grabbing onto the handle, Nazz is at her home washing her hands after getting them sweaty, and I got a bad case of this."

"Good Lord, Eddy! Why are you showing me this to me in this state? Are you trying to get me more sick?" Double D shrieked, jumping away from the sight of Eddy's blistered hands. "Are you also applying that this sword did that to you, along with shocking Rolf!"

"Yeah it did, and plus I said that some of the others didn't get this bad kind of treatment other than sore arms. Really you should have seen Jimmy and Sarah trying to lift this thing out."

"Are you mad? There's no way that I'm going to dare touch that thing now knowing what it did you and also to Rolf!"

"Come on Double D, you're one of the only people left who hadn't tried to draw Ed out of the rock," said Eddy. "Besides the two lovers and I have no idea where they are but that's a good thing, you look like someone who can free Ed from his stony prison."

The smart Ed lets out a sigh in return. "OK Eddy, as I said I'm not in the mood at the moment thanks to this headache and fever, and from what I can understand is that you put this random sword you found and glued it into this boulder, and Ed is somehow controlling everything from underneath the stage. I'm not going to risk losing my life or become violently ill from touching a sword you have wired to shock or burn anyone to touch it!"

"Uh Double D, you do realize that you're wielding the sword right now, right?" Kevin pointed out.

During the medium Ed's speech, he grabbed onto the claymore without paying any attention to what he is grabbing and he casually swung the sword around while missing the greedy Ed and the others that are still on the stage, preventing any injuries. Now that he finally realizes that he is wielding the weapon in his hand, he is surprised that he drew the claymore from the boulder, which is going against what he is saying, and the Ed takes a look at his reflection on the blade when Ed starts speaking.

"_Yay, Double D drew me from the stone!_" the claymore happily stated. "_That means he's my new master and he can wield the Rutabaga!_"

Upon hearing Ed suddenly speaking, Double D quickly sheaths the claymore back into the boulder and he steps away to the edge of the stage. Everyone else is looking in awe as there stands the only person who can wield the claymore and they are also surprised to hear the sword speak. "Now hold on," called out Rolf, "The sock-wearing, ill-headed Ed boy drew the sword from the Stone of Manhood and put it back in! That means it is up for grabs and Rolf will take the first claim to show all of you that this is just another one of the Ed boy's…"

As Rolf jumped onto the stage and giving his speech, he latches one hand onto the hilt and he received the same amount of electrocution from earlier, cutting off his sentence and left only yelling in pain. Keeping a tight grip, the boy tries to lift the sword up but the electricity is holding him back and he frees his grip to collapse onto the stage, sparks jumping all over his body. Once Rolf is done, Kevin steps up to see if he can lift the sword again, but once again he cannot lift the claymore from its slot and he drops everything so he can catch his breath. Eddy asks Jimmy to step up and try again at getting Ed free, only to come up with the same results and everyone one call it quits.

"OK, so it's now clear that Double D is the only one that can lift Ed from the rock without any trouble and is able to swing the thing around," said Eddy. "Then that means he is the winner in this contest."

"But here's something that I don't quite get," said Double D. "How is it that I'm the only one that can lift this sword from the boulder yet everyone else is struggling to get it out?"

"That's the million dollar question here," Eddy replied. "Beyond what Plank said about possibly connecting with the sword's soul, we don't have squat as to why only you can lift Ed out and not any of us!"

"And I have to ask about that… Why are you calling the claymore Ed anyway? It's not like he is… wait, he is in the sword isn't he?"

With a nod coming from the greedy boy, the claymore begins to consume itself in a bright light. After a few seconds, Ed appears right before everyone's eyes, sitting on top of the boulder with a goofy smile and he gives everyone a friendly wave. Everyone, sans Eddy and Sarah, look in amazement as they now realize about the tall boy's transformation ability. "Whoa, far out!" stated Jimmy excitedly. "Since when can you transform into a sword Ed?"

"Today," the tall Ed shrugged.

"Wow, I never thought that he can do that, let alone give Rolf a shocking and Eddy a bad case of freezer burn," said Kevin. "So does this mean that only Double D can wield him in his sword form?"

"Well we don't know if those two lovebirds are capable of wielding Ed, since none of us seen them all day," explained Eddy, with everyone in agreement, "so at this time the only person who can wield Ed is Sock-head!"

The said person lets out another sigh as he pinches his eyes together. "All right, so far today has been turning into a weird day. First Ed said that he possesses the ability to shoot out of his fingers, then I got this splitting headache and now I found out that Ed can transform into a claymore! And to top it off, it turns out that I'm the only one who can wield him! Why on Earth is the universe messing with the lot of us? Is it because of what we have done in the past that we deserved this kind of strange activity to come into our lives?"

"Hey, at least you get the bragging rights and the honor of swinging Ed around when he's a sword," Eddy added. "But why can't I wield him or anyone else is still up in the air…"

"Well once this headache ceases, I got a letter in the mail today that may help us answer some of the questions we have and I could shed some light into why I'm the only one who can wield Ed," said Double D.

The greedy Ed's twitches slightly, hearing something about a "letter that may help them answer their questions" and he and Ed turn their attention to their friend. "Letter?" he asked. "What letter?"

* * *

><p>And now it begins!<p>

OK, I want to say that this was originally going to be MUCH longer, over 30 pages to be precise… but I decided to split that part and rewrite it as Chapter Two. And since I am going to be working with an even amount of chapters for the three acts in this story… Yeah, moving that one part is actually helping me out a lot.

So right about now there are a few of you that are scratching your head about what just happened, especially with the whole challenge Eddy made and the other children either getting hurt or quickly tiring out. Well that has to go with the idea of the souls in the _Soul Eater_ universe and I will discuss that idea… when we go to school. Yeah if you have some back history in the series you should know it, but since I know that there are a hand full of you that haven't even heard of the series (unless you learned about it back in _Kingdom Hearts_ in Chapter Eighteen…). So if you want to learn ahead of time, check out around the Internet and you should find some useful information or you may stick around and I will discuss it to all of you and to the Ed boys.

And just to let you know ahead of time, Double D and Eddy are meisters, Ed is clearly a weapon, Rolf is a meister from his shock, and Nazz… that was Ed doing that. We all know how he reacts to Nazz when he sees her and this is nothing different. Disgusting… indeed.

And to repeat from the beginning, if you want to add your character to the story, please send me a message detailing your character (Luke, I want to exclude you for personal reasons), and don't write it in a review.

Before we go, I want to say this: "_Welcome to the End_…"

So if you are familiar with my work, you should know you are welcome to review, thank you very much. Up next is the second part of the day and the return of a familiar villain!


	2. Act I, Chapter 02

And now Part II of the first day in this story and this is where the real action shall begin. Not only am I revealing new characters, but the chain of events that are going to start will eventually roll out to reveal the true intentions of this entire trilogy! And to note: this came to me last year when I was planning out this story.

So allow me to say this: not only are you going to catch a glimpse at the main villain, but you will also see the Ed boys in action, along with some bonuses. Though I really have to ask this… seriously, what is up with the freaking moon in _Soul Eater_?

Legal Stuff: **I DO NOT own **_**Ed, Edd n Eddy**_** or **_**Soul Eater**_**. The Ed boys are copyrighted by the great Danny Antonucci and the team at AKA Studios, and the world and characters of **_**Soul Eater**_** is copyrighted by Atsushi Okubo. All original characters and other characters guest-starring belong to their original creators, and every other original content belongs to me.**

* * *

><p>Chapter Two – The Darkness Hour Strikes<em><br>And Woe the Moon Bleeds Red?_

OOO_  
><em>

"August 10:

"_Today started out like any other day here in the cul-de-sac, with the possible exceptions of some minor pulses in my head, but those have been pretty common recently. It all started when I got a call from Ed inviting me over to his household, rushing on something 'amazing' he recently discovered and wanted to show to me and Eddy. Well after waiting in his room for three hours, dealing with the pain in my head and learning about the serial killings getting closer to Peach Creek, Ed did showed off what he wanted to show, and that was the ability to shoot a bullet out of his finger!_

"_I was simply amazed and frightened by how Ed could possess such an ability like that, so that got me interested in knowing more. Before I could begin my research, a strong pulse pound at my head and I felt very ill, but Sarah was kind enough to treat my headache but I refused to take her medication her family has. I made the effort of heading back to my home, but the journey took forever and my sight begins to slip into another horrific vision. This vision… this nightmare, contained a destroyed city and what appears to be the cul-de-sac, and at the very center of the carnage was a man dressed in entirely black, with only red hair and eyes. Somehow I remember who this man is…_

"_Continuing on, the nightmare broke as soon I touched the doorknob and opened the door, stopping me from seeing more of that destructive city. Once inside, I walked in on an empty house, meaning my parents must have gone out shopping for the day, and I walked into the kitchen to find a note from Mother telling me that I got a letter. The strangest thing about this is that the letter I received is an acceptance letter to a private institution out in Nevada, with a name of Death Weapon Meister Academy, and the letter itself is written in Japanese. I am in the process of deciphering the letter, but I can get the feeling that this letter is an acceptance letter without even knowing what the letter really says._

"_After starting cracking a few lines with my trusty translator and also knowing a few characters, I heard Eddy's voice blaring outside about some challenge he set up and I wondered if I should head out and see what Eddy has gotten himself into. It was then when I heard a loud bang, obviously from the same challenge Eddy is doing, so I rushed out to find the other children trying to lift a claymore from a boulder. Once everyone was done, I went up on stage and somehow unconsciously drew the sword, which surprisingly turned out to be Ed, and this had led to another question for me to answer. First Ed possessing the ability to shoot out from his finger and now this ability to transform into a claymore, then Eddy getting a freezer burn after touching Ed but I'm the only one who can wield Ed, and finally me having that nightmarish vision today out in the cul-de-sac._

"_What does this all mean? I'm going to find out once I crack this letter!_"

An opened journal rests on top of a cluttered desk, joining with the same parchment letter mentioned in the current entry, as the writer is away from his desk to take a break. The bedroom door opens and Double D strolls in, feeling much better after taking some new medication. The medicine is helping to ease the pain, along with some new painkillers his parents bought for his head. The smart Ed strolls up to where he keeps his clothing and gathers his sleeping attire for the night, but he is not ready for bed as of yet. There is the matter of the letter he got in the mail and he wants to know what the message says.

Putting his clothes on his bed and pulling up a chair to his desk, the Ed grabs his translator his parent gave him and the letter to check over his translation thus far. The process of rewriting the letter has been taking him hours and he recognized a few characters to help him speed his translation, but the rest of the letter is as foreign as the country as itself. Double D checks over the envelope to see that the school is within America, but the question remains is why the letter is written in Japanese instead of English. Unless the school acquires the student to learn Japanese for their classes, then understanding this letter proves to be a challenge… only for those without a translator.

With the electronic translator in hand, Double D quickly presses several keys in rapid succession, writing the entire letter into the device until he is at the last line. Finished with writing, the boy hits the "Enter" button and waits for the letter to be translated. After a few minutes, the first line scrolls across the screen and the Ed grabs a pencil to write on his notes. As the letter scrolls on, the boy notices something off about the letter's message, appearing to be quite different than what he has on his paper, and at that moment a man's voice begins to speak, uttering the same message on the translator.

Another strong pulse strikes the Ed from out of nowhere, causing him to cling onto the side of his head as the world once again begins to melt away around him. He is experiencing the same sort of pain from two years ago, yet this time a familiar voice is echoing all around him, chanting the message playing on the translator. The message itself is a haunting encryption, speaking of a world suffering with an artificial plague and how this plague is going to bring about the end of civilization. Such graphic words being chanted by a venomous voice is making Double D feel very ill, all the way to his stomach, when suddenly a click of the clock seizes everything in the room.

With a blanket of silence covering the whole bedroom, Double D pivots around and scans every object to see if someone has enter his room or if there is any new items added during his spell. He is lucky to be spared this time, finding nothing unusual, and he lets out a sigh of relief as he heads over to his desk to check his letter. He reaches out to grab the translator, but when his fingers made contact it crumbles into dust. Double D is shock to see such a fresh, and hardly used, device would fall apart like that, but to his amazement the same phenomena happens when he touches the letter.

Now the Ed is getting worry and frighten by his touch, losing the two key items by turning them into dust. He stares down at his hands, seeing them shaking with fear as something bright flashes in the corner of his eye, prompting the Ed to look out his window to notice a new fear. Instead of a peaceful nighttime atmosphere in the cul-de-sac, there lingering in the skies is a sinister glow of fiery orange, blazing right out in front of the boy's house. Despite the window being closed, there is the sound of an army's footstep rhythmically marching down the street, and overhead of all of them is a tall black shadow that Double D once saw in a history book, staring down at the devastating happening outside.

With his mind running on overdrive, Double D begins to come up with a plan, deciding on whether to find a safe place to hide or head outside to see what is going on. After finally deciding, the Ed bursts out of his room and heads down the stairs to get right in front of the front door, all while missing the chance to see if his parents are anywhere in the house. Heat from the fire outside radiates through the wooden door, warning the boy not to head out into the world, but the urge to learn what is going on is getting stronger inside Double D before he unconsciously opens his door and flings it open.

A large gust of hot air blazes right by the Ed, heating the poor boy up as he stares out at the cul-de-sac to find his home in a devastating landscape. Empty shells of homes are split open and burned down to their wooden skeletons, the street and sidewalks are crack and uprooting, street lights are twisted into unusual shapes, and fires paint the night sky, leaving the Ed in a setting of destruction and death. The marching is getting closer and Double D looks down the street to notice an army of black robots heading right towards him, coming from the destruction of town and aiming towards his right side. All of these robots march in a rhythmic unison, keeping their red robotic gaze out in front of them, and not a single one of these creations paid any mind to the spectator watching their movement. Strangely, these robots appear to be built similar to one design he saw a long time ago, and Double D continues to watch the army until they pass over the ruins of his friends' homes.

"It has been a long time, Eddward…"

The said Ed jumps slightly and stiffens up upon hearing his first name, and he looks out onto the street to notice the very last person he wants to see in this devastation. Standing motionlessly out in the heat is a man dressed entirely in black with nothing but the upper half of his pale head and his fingers gripping onto his arms. A longcoat, shirt, long pants, shoes, gloves and a scarf is his attire, and yet there is not a single drop of sweat trickling down his whitish-peach skin. A chilling, evil stare is emitting from blood red eyes right into the Ed, burning an imprint of that stare as Double D notices that man bears fiery red hair that is strangely dancing like the flames burning around him.

Double D rubs his eyes to make sure he is really hallucinating, only to receive another blast of hot air to pin down his conclusion. What he is seeing before him is the destruction of Peach Creek and right before him is a man he knows very well but cannot bear to recall his name. For all he knows, this man is shrouded in mystery similar to the darkness that lingers around this man. Finding some nerves, the Ed slowly opens his mouth to speak but he finds it is hard to come up with the words to say.

"Lost on words? That is too bad for you," said the man in a calm, but unsettling, tone. "I was hoping you would ask me why I am here, but I guess you are too frightened to speak your mind."

"W-W-W-What's going on h-here?" Double D asked finally, his body shaking all over. "I-Is this r-r-really… the e-e-end of human c-c-c-civilization?"

"Life, as you know, it is nothing but an atomic fraction to the vast, eternal universal equation. The human race is given a direct path to travel, going from birth to death, but the final destination is unknown due to many branches leading to various events. All in all, whatever path you have taken in life, it will lead not only you but all of humanity to its end, and what you see is the result of not just my actions…"

"S-So… you're t-the one responsible for t-the destruction of the c-c-cul-de-sac!" Double D blindly stated, uncertain if this man is the true source of this apocalypse.

"Did I not say that the fall of your home is not only my doing? You and the rest of humanity are nothing but weak creatures in nature, all because you are losing your touch to the once natural animal instincts. No matter how much you train or how strong you are right now, every human being that is still alive is weak to defend for themselves and cannot possibly leave a scratch on my body."

"But h-how is t-that…"

Before the Ed can finish his sentence, another gust of wind brushes by him but this time there is no heat. Instead, this gust feels like a strong press of pressure, as if he is walking down on the floor of the ocean. This strange gust of pressure is getting the boy's curiosity and he starts to check around for the source of the pressure, only to then look straight up above him and lost everything within him. Covering what are the remains of Peach Creek is a dome made out of a black transparent material, reaching up high into the black heavens, its walls moving like a jet stream and sitting on top is a flame-like tail whipping about in the air.

Double D takes several steps back towards his door in fear, his mind trying to comprehend what is surrounding the cul-de-sac and the town. "W-W-What is… What is all of this?" he barked, finally getting a clear sentence out.

"All of this is the future that has been set in stone, boy," the man answered, his tone getting darker. "The fate of all of humanity, and the world, will succumb down the path of death, leading everyone to one exact point. There is nothing that will alter the future, Ed boy… I have foresaw what is to come and I will make it certain what you see around you will come true, leaving the world barren and no threats to stand in my way."

"That's… That's not true!" Double D stated angrily. "The future can change no matter what! Even if it's set in stone, there's bound to be someone or something that will alter the course of history and set things to prevent all of this from ever happening!"

"But what if your solution to this destruction exists in a time after the apocalypse has come and pass?"

The Ed is now lost on what to say. If what the man is saying is true, then there is no hope in stopping the destruction of his home. _No! There's got to be something that can stop this man!_ Double D stated in his mind. _I know there is a way of defeating this man and I just need to find it before he can do all of this for real. Or is this real?_

"There is nothing in this world that can help you in your mission to stop my future," the man replied with some shadows gathering at his feet. "Even if you still possess the two weapons with those special moves, you are still a weak individual standing in my way. And now… it is time for you to die."

In the distance, the walls on the dome begin to violently ripple and the pressure gust increases its speed as the man finally shows some real movement. Shadows rise up from the uprooted ground and latch onto the man, quickly building on top of each other as the man's body begins to bubble and shake all over the place. The body slowly starts rising up, getting higher up to the towering shadow, and skinny arms sprout out from the black mass as the body starts to smooth out. The head of the black mass is shaping out to be a hideous mash-up of razor teeth, deformed features, sharp red eyes, and fire burning brightly on top of its head.

Beyond the limits of his fear and completely scared out of his mind, Double D is frozen in place as he watches the man become a monster. The creature turns its disfigured head onto the scared Ed as the being lets out a horrifying screech from its mouth, echoing out into the horizon. The lower jaw hangs loose and another screech is let out from the monster, as the creature backs away for a moment before lunging right at the Ed boy…

OOO

A second later, the world around Double D snaps back to normal and the boy flings himself out of his seat, landing down hard on the floor and panting heavily. The Ed puts a hand to his head to feel the pain is gone and he picks himself up to notice that he is back in his room, with everything unchanged. He walks over to his desk and gives one good tap of his translator, making sure that the device remained intact. Once sure, the Ed checks his letter and his translation notes to make sure they are the same, instead of an encrypting message. But to Double D, he wonders why that vision, that nightmare, felt so real and why did that mentioned those things.

A future that is set in stone, where the cul-de-sac, Peach Creek and the world suffer an apocalypse by a single man dressed in black, all to gain control over the world. One of his friends has the strange ability to transform into an unusual sword and shoots like a gun, and another got a freezer burn from touching said sword. And now staring before him is a message he barely completed, but has given him a message other than what he has gathered so far. Whatever is happening right now, the Ed boy wants to solve this mystery before another vision like that nightmare destroys the boy.

The starling ringing from a nearby phone fills up the air and the boy looks over to the landline rumbling on his desk. He picks up the receiver and he states his introduction through the microphone, only to hear a familiar voice emitting through the speaker. "_Hey Double D, you mentioned something about a letter earlier today?_" asked the voice of Eddy.

"Yes, I did," the smart Ed replied. "Are you implying that you have the exact letter that I possess?"

"_I'm not saying it's the same thing as yours, but I can't read the crap written in this letter. I figure that this must be some junk mail that my Korean pen-pal wanted to get rid of._"

"Eddy, what is written on this letter is Japanese, not Korean. There is clear difference between the characters that they use in their writings. And second, from what I got so far is that this letter is an acceptance letter to some 'Death Weapon Meister Academy' out in Nevada."

"_An academy out in the scorching desert?_" echoed Eddy. "_Are you certain that this isn't like a military or a reformative school, because I don't remember me or my parents sending any letters to that school. Unless it was my damned brother…_"

"Eddy, watch your mouth, but I'm as confused as you are about this Academy place. If I finish with my translation, then this school will be nothing like we have seen before."

"_Unless somehow we wounded up in an alternative dimension and we somehow gained the memories of being at this school…_"

"I really doubt that we are in an alternative universe Eddy, but even if we were those adventures were very, _very_ generic. I strongly believe that this is going to be a lot different from what you're imagining, and to prove it I just need a few more words…"

The smart Ed grabs his translator and starts imputing a few strokes into the device, his eyes scanning over the areas he did not finish translating and watches the words appear on the screen. With a pencil in his other hand, he jots the words down onto his notes and fills in the blank spaces, quickly shifting his eyes back and forth between the letter, his notes and the translator before he realizes there are words he can automatically fill in. With his pencil dull, the Ed lifts his tool from his notes to notice a full, completed translation of the letter is sitting in front of him.

"_Hey, are you still there?_" asked Eddy, his voice sounding slightly annoyed for waiting in silence.

"Sorry for the brief silence Eddy, but I have finished translating the letter," Double D replied.

"_You actually translated the whole letter? That's great Double D! Why are you holding out on me? Read that sucker out loud so I can find out what I got!_"

"Uh, can you hold on for a minute Eddy," the smart Ed pitched, hearing a beeping sound in his ear, "I'm getting another call on the line." The boy reaches over to his phone and inputs a sequence needed to put Eddy on hold, and he switches over to the person calling. "Double D's room, Double D speaking."

"_Uh Double D, do you know how to speak Japanese?_" asked the voice of a confused tall Ed.

"Unless you are talking about the same letter that I possess, I have no experience in speaking or understanding the language. So I'm guessing you're calling about the same letter that Eddy has received as well."

"_How did you know?_"

"What else would you be calling me about speaking Japanese at an hour like this? I told you both about a letter I received in the mail and you said you got something similar to what I have."

"_So do you know what this letter said?_"

"I have finished completing the translation and I have my notes right in front of me, but it is getting late and I want to go to bed after this long day."

"_Oh please Double D, can you tell me what the letter said?_"

"I'm sorry Ed, but I haven't been feeling good today. How about you and Eddy come over here in the morning, and I'll show you both what I got from my translation."

A moan is let loose through the speaker and Ed said his goodbye to Double D. Once the smart Ed hears the click of a phone hanging up on the other end, the boy switches back over to Eddy and he talks to the greedy boy about coming over to the medium Ed's house in the morning. Finished for the night, Double D places the receiver back up and lays his pencil down as he checks over his note for one more check. Letting out a silent cheer, the Ed got out of his seat and starts switching out into his nighttime attire. Once finish, he heads out to get a cup of hot milk to help him go to sleep, along with saying good night to his parents.

Elsewhere in the cul-de-sac, the short-tempered Ed boy is pacing around in his bedroom, thinking about the acceptance letter he has received and what the message reads. His hands are now wrapped up in bandages, along with some ointment underneath to help with the healing, and in the background a record is playing, drowning out the noise outside of his room as Eddy sits himself in front of his vanity. There taped onto the mirror is a centerfold from one of Eddy's magazines and a sticky note reminding the boy to earn some money for the next school year. After learning about the acceptance letter, he is going to need some money if he is heading out of state, along with a briefcase for clothes and other necessities he wants to bring along for the flight.

In the greedy boy's mind, he imagines that the letter is a school out in the one place he wants to visit, Las Vegas. Eddy has a wide grin as his mind pictures him being taught by showgirls and going to the casinos to learn the trades of all the card and dice games, even learning how to control the odds on all the slot machines. There is also going to all of the stage shows and learn the trade from famous magicians, jokes from comedians, and possibly sing with a famous musician. All of this thinking is making Eddy wanting to head out the door right now, but checking over the address on the envelope puts a frown on his face and his fantasy is smash into pieces.

Stated on the envelope, the origin of the letter came from an unknown city to the boy call Death City. There is nothing that is familiar to Eddy about this city other than being out in Nevada, home of Las Vegas and Area 51. Eddy is clearly interested in going to Las Vegas to take his chances, and he knows that Ed will do anything to get near Area 51 while Double D will be the only one heading for Death City to attend the school there. If there is anything that the Ed can do to get to Las Vegas, this letter holds the secret that permits him to go but he needs to wait for the sun to rise up if he wants to get some answers.

Deciding on going to bed, Eddy leaves his vanity and heads into his walk-through closet to change. In seconds, the boy is walking out of the closet in his typical sleepwear of a white beater and boxers, and he grabs a hairnet from the vanity to cover his spiky hair. Turning out the lights and music, Eddy jumps onto his round blue bed and got himself in the middle, flipping on his lava lamp on his nightstand as he got under his covers. Once settle in, Eddy reaches behind his pillow and grabs the latest magazine he "acquired" and opens it up to read one of its many articles.

In another home in the cul-de-sac, Ed is wide awake and busy flipping through the different channels, seeing what is available at this time. Moments after the lifting challenge out in the cul-de-sac, Ed returned home to an angry Sarah and she scolded him for not repairing the hole made, and he was forced to cover the holes all by himself. The repair process took Ed over an hour, which was enough time before his parents came home and not bother asking about the recent shooting. Sarah did her part in the clean-up in the backyard, picking up any forgotten shards of glass and shoved the table down into Ed's room, and she did not tell her parents about Ed's latest destructive act.

The sword boy zips through the news channels, uninterested by the repeating stories, until he slows his surfing and heads back to listen in on new details of the serial killer. The news station he is watching is reporting that the killer is within Peach Creek and is going to make his move around midnight, with police officers out around the town all to catch this man, despite several past attempts before. Once acquiring the information Double D missed earlier, Ed continues on with his channel surfing when he stumbles upon a new show. He is grinning widely than normally and he wants to watch this show peacefully, so he takes his remote and adjusts the volume of his television.

_Assassins Rule #01: Silence. Dissolve into the darkness and erase your breath. Wait for an opening to attack your target._

Now with the sound at a respectable level where the Ed boy can hear his television but not loud enough to wake anyone in his home, the tall Ed reclines back in his chair and starts to relax. As he watches the active screen, there is a brief glimpse over to the window outside and Ed notices the faint outline of a boy looking inside his room, but the shadow vanishes in seconds. This new person strikes the nerdy boy's interest as he straightens up and stares out through his window, hoping to see if the shadow will return. Ed knows that he has never seen this person before and he begins to think that this boy could be the serial killer, so he heads over to the window and unlocks the hatch.

_Assassins Rule #02: Trans-positional thinking. Analyze the target in order to predict his thoughts and movements._

Opening the window up and sliding out onto the wet grass and into the open night air, Ed got up onto his feet and checks all around him to see where the mysterious shadows went off to. He walks out from his house and scans every square inch of his backyard, only to come up empty. The Ed decides on turning back and returns to his room, when he then decides to look up at the starry skies. Panning his head up, he passes his roof, a shadow resting on the roof, and several blinking stars to stare at the bright moon. In the boy's mind, warning sirens are going off about the shadow on the roof, but it is too late.

_Assassins Rule #03: Speed. Take out the target before the target notices your presences._

The shadow leaps up from the rooftop, launching up high to reveal the outline of a boy carrying two chain scythes, all while eyeing Ed with a mission to accomplish. The shadow lands very near to the Ed's house, camouflaging into the shadows of the building, as the chains scythes are loosen from his hands so he can throw the weapons. Ed's brain warns him that he is under attack, so the boy works to shoot at this intruder, but he does not want to wake the sleeping wrath that is Sarah. Noticing a scythe heading right towards him, the Ed steps out of the way, dodging the blade by inches, as the Ed finds the shadow closing in on him and punches Ed across the face.

The tall boy is sent flying across his backyard, hitting the grass and sliding across the dirt before slamming into the wooden fence on the opposite end. The sword Ed quickly recovers from the blow and he notices the shadow making another attempt to hit him. Ed jumps out of the way to watch the shadow boy takes a chain scythe and swings it right at Ed. The nerdy boy dodges each of the swings of the scythes as the shadows recalls his weapons to allow them to change into a dagger-like blade. Ed is now interested in transforming into a different form in his weapon form, but at the moment he is worry about staying alive, and he takes his left arm to allow it to transform it into a side of his claymore blade.

With a wide smile on his face, Ed takes his new sword arm and starts using it as his defense tool, as the shadow uses his blade to strike at Ed. The two fighters trade strikes with their sharp blades, clashing every few seconds and letting sparks go flying all over the place. With the moonlight lending itself to help both of the fighters to see, the two swordsmen continue to face off until the shadow boy knocks Ed down onto the ground. The tall boy got back onto his feet and watches the shadow prepare his final blow, leading Ed to come up with a plan to literally use his head to knock the shadow boy into the Ed's pond.

A splash of water rises up from where the boy fell into the pond, and the shadow breaches the surface to get a gasp of air. The blade in his hand leaps out and lands on the edge of the pond, all while glowing brightly before transforming into a woman. This woman is very similar to Ed, in how she is capable of transforming into a weapon, and she reaches out into the pond to grab the boy out. Ed offers to help the woman in getting the boy out, and in seconds the three of them are sitting on a wet patch of grass, with the shadow boy coughing up some water.

"All right, just what the hell were you think you're doing?" the shadow boy ripped, his voice booming out far into the night. "What was the freaking big idea shoving me into that pond with your head and trying to drown me?"

"Oh please, keep your voice down!" Ed pleaded, hissing his cry in fear of Sarah's wrath.

"Don't be telling me to keep my voice down, peasant! Do you have any idea you were fighting here? I am the man who has surpassed God and you can't order me to keep my voice down!"

"Please Black Star, just listen to what he has to say," the woman pleaded, her voice as low as Ed's. "He's obviously frightened by something or someone, plus he isn't the one we're seeking."

"Ha, as if he needs to be scared of someone or something, unless that someone happens to be me!" the shadow boasted, letting out a loud laugh.

Lights flick on from up in a second story room and, in a few seconds, the window flies open to allow the head of Sarah to stick out into the backyard. "Ed, keep whoever you have back here down!" she shouted, sounding louder than the shadow boy. "There are people trying to sleep around here!"

"Hey, if you're so concern about the others getting sleep, then try keeping your own mouth shut!" the intruding boy protested. "I think the others won't mind hearing the shouts from me instead of your loud mouth!"

Irritated by the boy's argument, Sarah lets out a growl as she grabs a ball from a toy chest and chucks it at the boy. The ball hits the shadow boy square in the forehead, all with enough force to knock the intruder off of his feet, and the others look in shock by the force of Sarah's throw and the impact. "Now keep it down or I'm calling the cops!" the little girl shouted, tucking her head back through the window before slamming it down.

The woman is in horror upon what happened to the boy and she rushes over to check to see if the intruding boy is still alive from getting hit like that. "Black Star! Black Star, are you all right?" she stated, keeping her voice low to prevent Sarah from getting them into more trouble.

The shadow boy lets out a groan in return, rising up from the woman's grasps, and he got back onto his feet as he grips onto his throbbing head. "Does it look like I'm OK?" he asked irritatingly, speaking in a normal tone. "I just got hit in the head with a freaking ball! That damned little brat is going to pay for doing this to the great Black Star."

"No! No one shall lay a hand or touch a little hair on my baby sister!" cried Ed, leaping onto the intruder to pin him down.

"Hey, get off of me you freak! Do you really want to die and have your soul eaten by Tsubaki?"

"Black Star, please stop all of this right now!" protested the woman angrily, stepping in to stop the two boys from fighting. "I'm not going to kill some random person for his soul, and I told you we've been fighting the wrong person all this time! The real killer is still out there, possibly getting close to his 99th soul!"

The intruding boy being referred as Black Star backs away from the tall Ed and gives him a full investigation before realizing the woman is right. Letting out a long string of curse words, the intruder calls to his partner as he and the woman leap out of the backyard and head out into the cul-de-sac. Ed watches the duo leave his backyard as he decides on heading back to his room to finish watching the show he wanted to watch. When he got to his window, he hears the sound of gunfire, freezing him in place as another shot rings out into the air.

The two gunshots sound very close to his home and those two shots sound much more powerful than his own shots. Fearing that the gunman would enter his house, Ed rounds the house to check out the scene in front of his house. Sarah turns on her lights again and throws her window, sticking her head out to check if the fighters are still on the lawn, but instead hears another gunshot from the front yard. Knowing this is not from Ed, she sticks her head back inside and heads towards the nearest phone to call the police. Down on the ground, Ed looks around the cul-de-sac to find where the shots are coming from, only to notice Black Star hitting the pavement after flying from the shadows.

Walking into the light, a large man built for weight-lifting strolls up to the fallen boy with a serious, smug look on his face. Smoke is snaking out of a sawed-off, titanium double-barrel shotgun, with the two barrels sticking out of the man's right arm through a mechanical slot. The man is wearing a torn gray leather longcoat with no sleeves, a black beater underneath, worn out brown jeans, a belt hanging loose on his waist, and several clips of rifle and elephant-grade shotgun shells hiding under the coat. The man is very rugged, with a five o'clock shadow wrapping around his chin, dark circles under his eyes, slight wrinkles on his brow, a couple of scars on his cheeks and a black crew cut.

In his active head, Ed distinctively remembers seeing this mountain of a man somewhere before on television, especially that prosthetic arm carrying that shotgun. Black Star got back onto his feet and prepares to throw one of his chain scythes, but the man takes his arm and lets out another round at the boy, only missing Black Star by inches. The bullet went on to hit Ed, but he quickly uses his blade arm to deflect the powerful bullet, protecting himself from getting killed.

The intruding boy takes his eyes off of the fight to look back to notice that Ed is right behind him. "Huh? What the hell are you doing out here!" hissed Black Star. "Can't you see that this man is armed with a gun?"

"I'm here to protect my baby sister! No one shall enter this household while I'm in charge!" stated Ed, stretching his arms out to his side.

"Then do me a favor and get out of my way! You're just going to get yourself killed if you just…"

Before Black Star can finish his statement, he catches the mountain man aiming his gun at him and he, along with Ed, dodge this single bullet when the man fired his gun. "Are you done talking to your new friend kid?" the man asked. "If you are, I would like to put an end to this fight so I can eat your souls."

"Eat our souls?" echoed Ed, thinking over the idea in his head.

"Why should we allow you to keep on walking this earth and feeding your appetite?" asked Black Star, getting his weapon ready to strike. "You're only going to get yourself kill if you continue walking this path of a kishin."

"The life of an actor is a stressful one, especially when one has to eat nothing but junk and slop served by the amateur cooks," the mountain answered, loading a few shells into his weapon. "It just so happen one day we experienced a terrible accident on the set that killed a fellow actor, and everyone but I was in fear because of that accident. I was hungry and when I saw that glowing sphere, I know that one soul will fill my empty stomach."

"_And one by one, you continued your search for more victims for only their souls_," the chain scythe pointed out. "_You think that you can achieve the status of Death Scythe, but really you're getting yourself closer to becoming a kishin! Why would you want to do this?_"

"Death Scythe?" echoed Ed, now adding a new topic to his train of thoughts.

"When I discovered that you Demon weapons are working for this status of being the Grim Reaper's personal weapon, you need ninety-nine human souls and one witch soul, and with one hundred souls it'll give me a full stomach and tremendous power! With each soul that I eat, I gain a certain amount of power that fuels me to crave for more souls!"

"So you really want to end up like a kishin and possibly have your skin to be use as a sack to hold your bones and organs?" asked Black Star rather venomously. "Do you want to have the entire world, including yourself, go mad from you walking about?"

"Boy, I am and always will be an actor. The world around me is nothing but a stage, where everyone is allowed to perform and every single person is a character in my eyes. Say if I do go mad from the power I have obtained, it'll be pretty easy for me to cover it up. Of course once I get my fill, then I'll take center stage and I'll use my powers to deal with all of the insane men on this damn planet!"

"Oh! I know who you are!" state Ed, dropping the subjects in his head. "You're the lead actor from my favorite show _Zombie Brunch Fest_, John Wilkes Booth! … Can I get an autograph?"

"Ah, it's great to see another loyal fan. Of course you can have one… once I kill these Academy brats and eat their souls," the mountain now named Booth replied, replacing his shotgun barrel for his rifle and then aiming the gun at Black Star.

The intruding boy lowers the chain scythes from his hands and he starts spinning them around, as he charges right at the former actor. Booth pulls his arm back to get it ready for a punch, all while waiting for Black Star to get into position. Once close enough, the boy throws a scythe and Booth grabs a hold of weapon and the chain, prompting the actor to swing the boy around. Tossing Black Star up into the air to only slam him down into the pavement, Black Star frees his grip and drops down so he can slam his feet onto Booth's head.

The actor recoils back in pain as the intruding boy lands in front of Booth and grabs the scythes to toss one of them at Booth. The mountain takes a step to the side to dodge the blade and curls his fingers as Booth sends his prosthetic arm at Black Star. During the attack, Ed steps right in the middle of the punch to receive the full blow, surprising both Black Star and Booth that the sword boy wants to join in on the fight and take a heavy blow to the face. However, Ed remains standing on his feet and he puts on his trademark smile as he aims his semi-automatic hand right at Booth. Unloading a few shots, Ed is then surprise that he missed all of those shots, which gives Booth the opportunity to grab onto Ed's head.

With a tight grip holding the nerdy boy down, the actor flashes a wicked smile as the rifle barrel shines brightly in the street light, patiently waiting to be fire. Black Star panics at the sight of this and he orders for the chain scythes to transform into a smoke bomb, which looks distinctively like the woman's head. Tossing the bomb over to the two fighters, the casing breaks and smoke is release, startling Booth from the sharp bang of the bomb and freeing Ed so he can make his escape. Booth lets out a growl as he starts to shoot aimlessly through the smoke, trying to hit Ed, Black Star or the woman as the smokes starts heading back to Black Star to form into a black katana.

Upon grabbing the grip of the katana, dark blue lines appear on the intruder's face, leaving Ed to ask why his sword did that to him. Before Black Star can answer, a gunshot fills the air and the two boys quickly dodge the shot, looking towards Booth to notice the ravenous look in his eyes. Shoving the rifle into the arm to replace it with his shotgun barrel, and he unloads several rounds at the boys. Ed and Black Star went their separate ways, with the tall Ed heading off to a safe location and the intruder making his way towards the actor. Being light on his feet, Black Star dances his way towards Booth, dodging each one of the shotgun bullets, and the boy uses his katana to strike at the man but the actor takes the barrels to use them as a shield.

The two of them are lock in a standstill, with Black Star eating his way with the katana while Booth is blocking with his gun arm and occasionally punches the boy with his normal hand. Ed watches the fight from afar, safely watching Black Star and Booth trade blows, and an idea pops into the tall boy's head that will help win the battle. Shooting off a warning shot, both Black Star and Booth turn their heads to look over at the Ed boy, only to see him charging right the two of them. The sword boy then transforms into his claymore form, throwing himself straight at Booth, but the plan backfires when the actor reaches out with his prosthetic arm and catches Ed by the grip, all while having no reaction upon grabbing the sword.

"But, how is this…?" questioned Ed, surprised by Booth grabbing him.

"Dammit boy, I'm trying to get a free meal here! Get out of my way or you'll be next on my plate!" growled Booth, taking the claymore and swinging it towards Black Star.

"Hey, that's a very lame line!" Ed stated, stretching out his last word as he is sent flying. Missing the intruder, the claymore hits the hard asphalt, tumbling along before hitting the sidewalk and continues on traveling across wet grass. Before long, Ed lands in front of someone's house, creating a large crater in the wall from the sudden stop, and the whole house is rocking from the force of the impact and the weight of Ed's sword form.

After the house finishes shaking, the front door swings open and Double D wanders out to notice the battle happening out in the middle of the street. His eyes then shift over to where the crater is and he watches Ed transform back into his regular form before rushing over to his aid. "Ed, what in the world is going on here?" the smart boy stated. "Who are these people and why are you trying to create a hole in my house!"

"Double D, you won't believe what is going on here!" Ed stated, getting all excited. "I'm actually fighting against the lead actor from _Zombie Brunch Fest,_ plus I also fought against an intruder with this pretty female weapon, who can transform into multiple weapons, and I thought they were the serial killers until that woman mentioned the killer was nearby…"

"So are you saying that one of those two people over there is the serial killer? But I don't see the female… oh wait, sorry I forgot that line. But how can you tell which one is the serial killer?"

"Well Bruce mentioned something about eating souls, Death Scythes, the world being a stage to him, an academy…"

Upon hearing "an academy," Double D looks over to the fight to notice Black Star's outfit, only to then shift his mind to something else. "Ed, I'm sorry that I have to disappoint you on this, but what you're probably hearing was something from a script and that other boy is probably an actor," said the smart Ed. "I'm sure that there're cameramen filming the fight, though I'm surprise I didn't hear about this or how in the world did you manage to get onto an actual film lot."

"But I didn't see any cameramen, nor any camera or anyone else when I was fighting," Ed pointed out, sounding slightly disappointed.

"So if what you're saying is true, then that man Booth there is really…" The thought finally clicks in Double D's head and he immediately starts to beg Ed to get inside his house, but Ed begs to head back to continue fighting. "Ed, get into this house this instance! If you don't want to be shot at by your favorite actor, then I suggest you get inside my house before he kills the both of us!"

The actor takes one of his arms and bat Black Star right over towards Double D's house. The two Eds got out of the way as the intruder lands back on his feet, skidding to a stop, and the weapon leaps out from the boy's hands to transform into the woman. Black Star wipes away some blood from his mouth, panting heavily as he thinks up a plan on how to defeat the actor and protect the others from being killed. While Booth is reloading his guns, Black Star turns to the woman and the two of them start to come up with a plan.

"All right Tsubaki, you stay here and make sure these two don't get involve any further in this fight," the boy ordered. "I'll go ahead and deal with this guy all by myself, perhaps give him a taste of my Black Star Big Wave."

"Right," the woman replied, nodding as she watches her partner sprint off to rejoin the fight against Booth. She turns around to notice Double D help clean off Ed as he inspects the damage

"Uh, excuse me miss, but can you explain to us just what in the world is happening in our cul-de-sac!" Double D questioned, starting out calm before finishing with a scream.

"Hey Sock-head, can you keep the racket down?" the voice of Eddy stated angrily. The group turns to notice the greedy boy right towards them, still in his sleepwear. "Seriously, I'm trying to get some sleep and what is going on here? Who's the hairy ape, the blue-haired freak and this lovely lady?"

"Eddy, try to show a little respect to our guest here, and also one question at a time," said Double D. "I'm also in need of some answers, but now is not a good time for you to be out here. Why don't you head back to your house and hopefully ride this out."

"What? Are you trying to hold me out from a fight here? No way Double D, I'm not going to be put on the sidelines," the burned Ed retorted. "I'm wide awake right now and no matter whatever happens here in the cul-de-sac, no matter what time it is, we'll band together and ward whatever is threatening us off!"

"Then join us Eddy in putting a stop to a traitorous Booth and we the Eds shall help save the human resistance from a soul-hungry zombie!" Ed stated proudly, grabbing his friends and bringing them for a hug.

"That's great that you want to help us out, but Black Star told me to stop you from interfering with this fight," the woman, now named Tsubaki explained. "We really don't want other people joining, especially regular citizens, in on the fight where they can get killed."

"But can I join in if I can turn into a rutabaga?" Ed asked in a begging tone.

"What my friend means is that he can transform into a claymore, and between the two of us I'm the only one who can wield him," added Double D.

"Well I've noticed your friend having the qualities of a weapon during the fight and saw him transform into the claymore, and if what you said is true, then you must be a meister," said Tsubaki before looking over at Eddy's hands. "From what I'm guessing by those bandages, you must be a meister yourself?"

"Honestly I have no idea on what you're talking about," the greedy boy replied, "but if you're saying something about me grabbing Ed and then getting a freezer burn on my hands, then yeah I'm whatever you called me."

Before the girl can open her mouth to say something, there is a loud crash right behind them and they look back to find Black Star rising from his crash site. His body is shaking from exerting too much energy and cuts are appearing over his body, while Booth is still in one piece despite his overall appearance. "Well, well, I have to admit kid, you're quite impressive," said the actor, adjusting his prosthetic arm. "Not once in my career has the gall to try breaking my arm before and yet here you are now. Maybe you have the chance of making it to Hollywood, kid."

"Hey, who are you calling a kid, you big hairy ape!" shouted Black Star, with Eddy perking his ears from hearing his insult to Booth. "Don't you know who're fighting here? I'm the one who's surpassed God! You shouldn't be calling me a kid and should be kneeling before me!"

"Ha, that's quite a stretch," the actor laugh. "A little boy like you took on a god and actually won? By the looks of it you have a better chance of going up against Death than an immortal god."

"Oh no, this is getting worse," muttered Tsubaki, obviously frightened by something. "With all the souls he has eaten thus far, he is surely going to give into the madness and the world's going to have another kishin to deal with!"

There is a moment of a confusing silence between the Eds, as they try to comprehend what the woman is trying to say. "… What?" replied all three Eds in unison.

"All right, there isn't much time to explain everything but I'm going to need your help if we want to defeat this man," Tsubaki rushed. "Now, I need you two to work together as a team, since you mentioned that you can wield him, and I need you with the bandaged hands to wield me for the moment."

"Uh, you do really want me to suffer more pain after what Ed did to me?" asked Eddy.

"And are you trying to say that we should kill this man to stop this fighting?" questioned Double D, shocked by this idea. "I… I refuse to accept in taking part of this ordeal!"

"What! We need to kill him!" barked the woman. "If he was to kill any of us, he's going to be one step closer to become a kishin, and at that point we're doomed because what kishins to this world!"

"By the sound of that, these 'kishins' probably mean something like a non-human thing," explained Eddy, completely unsure if this is true. "We've dealt with plenty of non-humans before and let several people alive while you're the hero. It's not like this is anything different."

"I guess that is true about that, but there is a difference here Eddy," the smart Ed pointed out. "That man isn't a 'kishin' yet, so he's very much human at this point."

"We're wasting time here!" blurted Tsubaki, transforming into her chain scythe form and landing in Eddy's hands. "_I know I'm asking a lot from you guys but we need to do something before Black__Star gets kill. I may be breaking the rules on letting non-Academy meisters and weapons joining this fight, but we need to help Black__Star and fast!_"

"Hold on, what's this about breaking the rules? Double D asked, watching Ed transforming into his claymore form and grabbing onto the grip.

"How about less talking, more fighting shall we?" protested Eddy, getting a tight grip on Tsubaki as he takes his first step with the weapon, only to feel woozy. "Whoa… why is my head spinning all of a sudden?"

"_That may be from our soul wavelengths not being in sync with each other_," said the chain scythe. "_That would also explain how you got those burns when you tried to wield your friend_."

"Well the good news is that I can fight without any pain," the greedy Ed boasted, stumbling slightly as he tries to focus on the fight.

"So now that we are set, shall we proceed to the fight?" the smart Ed sighed, losing interest in the fight.

Now equipped to fight, the two Eds hit the street charges toward the battle, with Double D lagging behind due to Ed's length as a sword and also the pulses in the boy's head. Eddy asks if Double D is all right, and the smart Ed replies he will be fine, leaving the greedy Ed to run ahead to use Tsubaki and Double D to cope with his newest headache. As the pulses pound away at his head, the Ed boy catches glimpses of events in the past and yet to come, along with seeing the man from his nightmare and the tall shadow overlooking the future. It is at that instance the pain suddenly disappears and Double D is left standing in a world full of blackness, except for only a few multicolor, glowing spheres bearing a face and some spikes to represent hair.

"What… What is all of this?" the boy asked, looking all him to notice more of these sphere beyond the fight, only noticing that these spheres are blue with a flame-like tail. "Are these… souls I'm looking at? Am I really looking at people's souls?"

In his eyes, the Ed boy can see the four different spheres he calls souls right in front of him, each one of them different in color and in design. He can easily tell whose soul belongs to who, with a yellow irritated soul with three spikes being Eddy's, a loud blue soul with spikes going all over the place being Black Star's, another yellow soul with a concern, but pleasant, look with a long tail that belongs to Tsubaki, and the dark green, rugged soul with a short tail and a flat top that belongs to Booth. Double D also notices the connection between Eddy and Tsubaki, noticing the rippling waves between the two souls. _Is this perhaps the soul wavelength the girl was talking about?_ Double D thought.

Double D is suddenly sent back to reality when the greedy boy lands in front of him, and Eddy quickly got back up onto his feet to rejoin the fight. The smart Ed shakes off whatever is going through his head and takes Ed by the grip as he prepares to use the claymore, grabbing the single glove to slip it onto his left hand. Once ready, Double D steps forward and enters the fight, only to receive a bullet from Booth and skillfully blocks it with Ed. The smart Ed lifts the claymore up to try to swing him, but the claymore fires off one of its own shots right at Booth, missing him entirely.

"Ed, remind me to ask you how you did that," the smart Ed calmly said, surprised by his results.

Taking a good look around him, Booth is now surrounded with three different people circling around him, with two of them bearing weapons and the other is defenseless. The actor puts on a wicked smile as he launches himself at Double D, and the smart Ed raises Ed up for his defense. Booth starts to pummel away at the hard steel that makes Ed up, bruising both his real and artificial hands, and occasionally breaks to allow Double D a chance to strike. Using his double-barrel shotgun as a shield, Booth takes all of the Ed's swings very similar to when the man fought against Black Star, however the weapon this time is much larger and now he is vulnerable to attacks in the back.

Eddy takes this opportunity to do some damage to help win this fight, but when he got close to Booth the actor jumps around Double D and latches onto the boy's hat. Taking the smart boy and swinging him around, Booth bats the greedy Ed far away from him. Eddy looks up to notice a lamppost coming up and he sticks the blades of the chain scythes out, allowing him to latch onto the metal pole and spin around. Once attached, he swings around once and he frees Tsubaki from the pole, launching the two of them right at Booth and kicking him hard in the stomach.

Taking one scythe and tossing it, Tsubaki wraps herself around the actor's prosthetic arm, getting Eddy to give one good tug on the chain to snare the scythe on and making sure Booth will not use his gun or go anywhere. Booth struggles to get move the chain and scythe free from his arm, and he looks over to Eddy to notice he is still out of sync with Tsubaki, which is giving the boys another chance to strike the actor in the back. Black Star came from out of nowhere, hurling his entire body at the actor as he skids across the ground and shouts the name of his attack.

The intruding boy's attack hits Booth strongly, using his elbow as Black Star slams into the actor's back with enough force to break his spine, and that one attack sent Booth flying forward. Tsubaki reverts to her human form to prevent herself from going flying off with Booth, watching the main sail right for Double D. The Ed is uncertain about what to do next, as the next few seconds come to a standstill and he notices a disturbing sight before him. There resting on the claymore is Booth, with the blade strangely piercing through his torso, his face dazed and shocked from the force of both attacks, and Double D is left staring in wide-eye horror of the bloody mess laying before him.

The swordsman Ed drops his weapon from his hands, terrified that he is wielding a murder weapon, and he allows Booth to stand up with his remaining strength. Feeling cold on the inside and the trickling warmth of red streams of blood running down his chest, Booth coughs up more blood onto the blade as his entire body shakes. "Well… I guess this is the end for this pathetic actor," he muttered, his tone cold and lifeless. "Funny… I thought I was going to die on my show by the same zombie actors and I become one of them. Perhaps in another life…"

With his dying words, the body of John Wilkes Booth falls back and starts to turn back, transforming into strands of shadows as a red ball is glowing in the center. These strands collect onto the red sphere, building it up before the body implodes and all that remains is a soul. However, unlike the souls Booth has eaten, this soul is red in color with black hexagonal plates on the side, along with having a red halo glowing around it, but the soul still bears the same flame-like tail on top.

"What… did I… do? Did I… Did I just… I killed him, didn't I?" Double D questioned, gripping onto his head as he starts to freak out.

Ed reverts back to his regular form, lying on his back from being dropped and noticing the lack of blood on his clothes, and he looks up to notice the red soul floating above his head. "Oh cool, a snack," he said, reaching up to grab the soul.

"Ed don't you _dare_ touch that vile thing!" barked Double D, his voice reaching out throughout the cul-de-sac. "You don't know where that thing has been and oh my Lord I just committed homicide with one of my friends. Ed and I both committed a murder on a famous actor… No, this isn't happening!"

"Geez, you're overacting a lot about this," groaned Black Star, sounding a lot like Eddy. "You did us a favor back there by getting rid of this guy, so now we're going to take this soul with us now."

"Hold on there for a minute… are you saying that you were going to kill that man yourself all this time? Then why didn't you say something in the first place!"

"All right Double D, let's take it easy here… Just calm down and let these people try to explain the situation to us," eased Eddy, hoping to calm his friend down but nothing seems to work.

"Calm down? _Calm down?_ Eddy, this isn't the time to calm down! What me and Ed just did was took the life of another man, the one that was going about killing others for personal gain! This isn't Justice Eddy, this is freaking murder! I can't simply go home and forget all of this knowing that we have the soul of the serial killer resting right here in the cul-de-sac, thanks to me and Ed!"

"Really, this isn't something you should be getting all work about," Tsubaki calmly explained. "We do this sort of thing all the time, except for having the three of you join in on this fight…"

"So that means that you two are the real serial killers, not that man!" snapped Double D, his face red with anger. "You two should be ashamed for yourselves for allowing us to participate in your attempt of murder and then allowing two of us to commit that murder! In fact, you two should be put on death row for getting this far in life!"

"Hey, we're the good guys in this, buster, and we didn't think of bringing the three of you into this fight!" protested Black Star, his voice as angry as the smart Ed's. "We were sent here by Lord Death because that man was on the verge of becoming a kishin, and you should be thanking us for getting here before he had the chance to kill the three of you!"

"OK so if that's true, then perhaps you should have done the logical thing and call the police! They would have sent the man to jail for his actions and we wouldn't be here in the first place!"

"You don't understand a thing, don't you?" the intruder boy growled. "This is our job to go around the world looking for people like him and collect their souls for Lord Death to prevent another kishin from being born into this world, and also to get Tsubaki the title of Death Scythe."

"So what you're saying is that you're collecting other people souls from all over the world, all for some mere title and also you work for the Grim Reaper?" stated Double D, completely baffled by this idea. "All right, that does it! I give up in all of this! I officially quit!" With that, the smart Ed throws his arm into the air and starts heading towards town.

"No, don't go Double D! We need you in this!" Ed protested, producing tears in his eyes.

"I'm really sorry Ed but I'm not going to participate in some story that has me going about killing random people for entertainment and for me to get answers! No, I rather turn myself, and you, in to the police and place the two of us behind bars for the rest of our natural lives."

"But your name is in the freaking title!" stated Eddy. "How can we go on without you in this? Me and Ed aren't compatible with each other and we can't go anywhere since you have the translations!"

"What are you talking about?" questioned Black Star, wondering about the greedy boy's first sentence.

"Uh, that's really nothing. But anyway, I'm dead serious about this. We're can't go anywhere unless you join us to go to Death City! You have the answers to our questions about that Academy and what the letter says!"

"Hold on… you said something about Death City and the Academy," pondered Tsubaki. "If by chance are you talking about attending the Academy?"

"And what is this so call Academy we are talking about here? Then again, who the hell are you people and why are you here, other than to kill that man?"

"Well, perhaps this is the best time to explain who we are and what we do. My name is Tsubaki, and this is my meister Black Star…"

"'Sup," the boy replied, rising up a hand.

"… And we're part of a meister-weapon team working under Lord Death at Death Weapon Meister Academy, a school out in Death City like you have mentioned," continued Tsubaki.

"Uh… you just lost the both of us," Eddy grumbled, with Ed giving a blank stare. "All we got was your name and that's it. What's this about a weapon-meister team and working for a 'Lord Death'?"

"Uh, excuse me, but did you say Death Weapon Meister Academy?" asked Double D, deciding on turning back after hearing the name of the school. "Are you saying that you two go to the school we got the acceptance letters from?"

Both Tsubaki and Black Star throw a confusing look at each other, surprised upon hearing about a letter from the school. "What's this about an acceptance letter?" the girl asked. "I don't remember the Academy sending me an acceptance letter."

"Same here, but to answer your question yes, but there's something you should know about us," said Black Star. "From what you can see from our uniform, we are part of a certain class known as Spartoi, a group of students that are two-star meisters that are much stronger than the other students at the Academy, but we still collect kishin eggs for Lord Death."

Tsubaki begins to explain the history of the school and also their particular class they are in, saying that they were part in a war against the school by an organization that wanted to bring the Academy down. The group was formed after one meister-weapon team killed the leader of the organization and eaten her soul to achieve the final step in becoming a Death Scythe. Since then, the selected students became two-star meisters and are now allow taking on special missions offered by the school and participating in large scale wars.

The two students that are before them are dressed for the part, with the boy called Black Star, now shown in the street light, is wearing two layers for his top, comprising of two separate tank-tops with one being black and the other white with a black star, blue dress pants with the legs rolled up slightly, white shoes, and what appears to be a white jacket with unusual cuffs and a tie wrapped around his waist. The boy is well fit, appearing to train everyday to maintain his muscles, and on the boy's wrists are some white arm bands with the same black star on his shirt and a star tattoo on his right shoulder. He also has some spiky hair and strangely it is a light blue.

The girl known as Tsubaki is much taller than her meister and she is well-developed, but she does appear to be fit since her meister is somewhat of an assassin. Her outfit is of a typical sailor-like school girl outfit, with a white shirt with a blue collar, a blue miniskirt, black socks going up to her knees, white shoes, an unusual red tie wrapped like a bow and a black scarf. The girl is very cute in the face, bearing a mane of black hair with a very long, and thin, ponytail and eyes matching her hair and scarf.

"To be fair, we're actually out here because Lord Death sent us to find a couple of meisters and weapons that are living out here," said Tsubaki. "It's was all coincidence that Booth was heading out this way, so he gave us the assignment of making sure to put a stop to him as well so he doesn't go full kishin."

"And also since you were the ones that got the kishin egg in the first place instead of us," noted Black Star, reminding Double D of the killings, "you and your weapon got yourselves a head start of everyone joining the new year. Now if Tsubaki were to get that soul, we would have to restart from the very beginning."

"So you already have the ninety-nine souls?" asked Double D, with the girl nodding in response. "Well that's really interesting to hear, but how are we going to get this head start if the said item is missing?"

The group notices that the red soul is missing and they all start to look around to see where it went off to. The Eds look all around the cul-de-sac, only to find Ed chewing on something big in his mouth, sitting in the middle of the street where the soul has been all before swallowing the thing. "Yum, tasty like a Jawbreaker," the tall boy critiqued. "Could have used some flavor though…"

"Ed… did you just… eat that soul?" asked Double D in disbelief, and Ed nods happily in response.

"Ed! You freaking idiot! That was our one-way ticket in getting a head start at the school!" shouted Eddy, grabbing onto Ed's jacket and starts shaking him violently. "You just had to go eat the stupid damn thing, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry Eddy, but I didn't get dessert!" Ed replied in protest, his voice wavering due to him being shaken up.

"Actually it really doesn't matter if he has eaten or absorbed the soul, or have left the thing intact, he still has the advantage against the other students joining the Academy," said Tsubaki. "That soul belongs to him now, and all he needs is ninety-eight more kishin eggs and one witch's soul, and he'll be on his way to becoming a Death Scythe much like Soul!"

"So this means we're going to be killing more people in the future," said Double D grimly, with the experienced team nodding in response. "This is going to be a long story…"

"So this means we're going to be fighting witches? Pinch me Eddy, I must be dreaming!" Ed stated, grabbing onto the greedy boy as the two of them spin around in place.

"This is no dream Ed, this is all real and it's happening right now," said Eddy, sounding as grim as Double D. "I'm afraid this is just the beginning for us…"

OOO

In an unknown part of the world, the dark sky hangs ominously over the blacken earth, painted a dark red to represent the eternal flames burning throughout the world. Rising up from the dead soil, a mountain in the shape of a fortress sinisterly stares out into the barren horizon with blank, open eyes. The fortress is a large building, void of living beings except for three brave souls, and two of these souls are walking towards the door to the tallest tower of this fortress,

The towering metal doors swing open and the two people stroll in with the same looks on their faces. Both of them are of the same gender but of opposite colors, with one with a theme of fiery red and the other is wearing a calmly blue attire. The two males walk on top of a long passageway, hovering above a patch of lava deep below, until coming to a stop near the edge of the pathway. Waiting patiently, a narrow column of black shoots out from the ground and reaches up to the ceiling, all before coming to a stop and a being starts to form from the black mass.

Once set, the guests wait for the column to lower itself to allow the two males to see who this being is, noticing the demonic face of green lips, curled teeth, soulless black eyes, four horns and eyebrows burning like flames. "So… everything is starting to fall into place, correct?" the being asked in a booming voice.

"Indeed, our liege," the boy in red replied, bowing slightly to the being. "So far the one Ed in red has received a vision from the Man in Shadows and all three obtained the letter from the 'Academy.'"

"Along with that, a meister-weapon team appeared and the five of them took out their first victim, leading the boys to collect their first egg," the boy in blue explained in a rather monotone voice.

"This is all excellent. So far everything is going according to plan. If things stay the way they are, I will have those Ed boys out of the way, and soon the rest of the world will fall along with them…"

* * *

><p>Ladies and gentlemen, the Man in Shadows has return! (It's kinda surprising that I've never really gave him a full description of his appearance until now…)<p>

Yeah Eddy, this is going to go all downhill from here for you guys… but this is just the beginning for all of us! So what you have just witness is the return of the Man in Shadows, the Eds learning who they really are, and the semi-introduction of Aku. And when I mean semi-introduce… I mean I haven't given him a true introduction. If you read the descriptions of each character, that is basically an introduction (if I'm not talking about a one-shot character, then it's either "you're important to the story or you're nobody").

OK, I do want to talk about Booth and some other things as well. Basically Booth is based off of the John Wilkes Booth of the same name, who is the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Now why in the world would I be doing this sort of thing? Well if you pay attention to the _Soul Eater_ series, the "first" guy that Maka and Soul killed was a revision of Jack the Ripper (by "first" I mean they killed that person first in the show, but really it was their 99th soul), along with the second "villain" in Episode 02 was Al Capone. And then there are expies of famous villains from horror movies (ex. Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees), so really I just want to go along with the idea by adding a well-familiar person and revision him into this story. And come on, there are people out there that will do the same thing I just did.

And I did say that this is going to be a three-way crossover with the Eds, _Soul Eater_ and _Samurai Jack_, but how in the world am I going to perform the latter? Pay attention in the future chapters: you just may notice something.

And before I go, I would like to play a game. Throughout this story you are going to notice some unique little "add-ons" that will help you decide rather or not I am truly writing this story. What you are going to do is check every bit of detail that is going into this story, including artwork I make and the paragraphs within the story itself, and I want you to see if this entire thing is written entirely by me, or is there someone else taking over. Now here's the catch: Anything the characters say will not be allow in your score and you **MUST** keep this a secret to only yourself. I don't want to know it within PMs or reviews. I'll be happy to see you accepting the challenge, but from there… no peeping until a certain chapter is uploaded.

So for now I would like for you all to review, thank you very much. Coming up is the end to this mini introduction arc and the return of another old character, and more!

**P.S**: If you look up the moon from _Soul Eater_, don't. It'll be a bad thing to see that in real life… or a good thing, I don't know. I have yet to check out the tidal wave effect with that moon.


End file.
